Thread

OpenAI is enlisting an influencer army to make it look 'good for the world'

221 points · 209 comments · cdrnsf

123aGaf · 1790168686 · focus · HN ↗
And they only count the influencers who use the OpenAI's partner hashtags!
US business model: go into billions of debt, brainwash the population via YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and Hacker News influencers. Intimidate foreign governments to allow the current snake oil. Wait a decade until you have minor profits and the stock price is through the roof because #growth-mindset.
1. pj_mukh · 1790172023 · focus · HN ↗
  >>brainwash the population via YouTube,
  I like that you think that only one side is doing it. And without clear partner hashtags or sponsorship declarations neither [1].
  Seems like an obvious response from OpenAI ngl.
  [1]: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPdmYMHrWKg" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPdmYMHrWKg
  1. runarberg · 1790172340 · focus · HN ↗
    Just know you are citing one of the most disgraced science communicator YouTuber here. I for one don‘t trust anything she says. In fact when Sabine Hossenfelder says something, I tend to believe the opposite.
  2. officeplant · 1790172622 · focus · HN ↗
    >ground news sponsorship
    Ahh the paid pretend fence sitters have arrived.
  3. pixl97 · 1790172847 · focus · HN ↗
    What's worse is every major company is doing things like this. If you're a large enough company to be considered "evil" by someone you have media/social media teams duking it out in the advertizing-sphere.
    Now, don't take it as me saying what OpenAI is doing is good. It's more if you're in the industry you know that if you're not doing things like this, you're the only one. Whole damned thing is corrupt.
    mrguyorama · 1790177562 · focus · HN ↗
    This "PR management" is a service cheap enough to offer to mildly well off random people to massage the egos of their children or whatever.
    Everything has inauthentic messaging right now.
  4. 1298hafD · 1790174169 · focus · HN ↗
    Look, Effective Altruism money that goes through multiple funds (Survival and Flourishing Fund (SFF) => Center for AI Safety (CAIS)) can have any ulterior motive.
    Like using doomerism to get regulatory capture for Big AI.
    > Seems like an obvious response from OpenAI ngl.
    What response? Big AI has been paying influencers forever and they can afford more than Hossenfelder:
    <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/06/google-microsoft-pay-creators-500000-and-more-to-promote-ai.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/06/google-microsoft-pay-creator...
    Even chess channels have been full of undisclosed vibe coding and robot product placements for at least two years.
    pj_mukh · 1790174640 · focus · HN ↗
    I'm not definitively claiming one side started it. One side is clearly marking it as advertisement, companies advertise and influencer marketing is just another channel now.
    I'm saying, the game is the game and everyone's playing it.
    I don't like it either. I think all influencers should be declaring payments.

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