OpenAI Is Enlisting an Influencer Army to Make It Look 'Good for the World'

OpenAI is ramping up its influencer marketing as AI safety concerns dominate the debate, Business Insider reported on September 23. Creators are not asked to calm fears of a rogue AI destroying humanity; pitches encourage them to present ChatGPT as "cool" and highlight work that is "good for the world".

Sponsored posts: 61, then 141

Sponsored Instagram posts promoting ChatGPT doubled from 61 in June to 122 in July and reached 141 in August, according to the influencer-marketing platform HypeAuditor. Business Insider reviewed dozens of the posts and spoke with six managers and creators who had worked with OpenAI. The outreach spans parenting and fitness influencers as well as tech-savvy creators, part of a push to broaden ChatGPT's user base and grow OpenAI's ad business.

The message: ChatGPT can help you parent, run a business, create content, plan a workout and be a good person. The push serves two goals: getting businesses to pay for enterprise tools and keeping millions of consumers returning to the chatbot.

Backlash risk for creators

Some influencers who post sponsored content for AI companies are criticized by their own audiences; creators who attended an OpenAI brand trip in August were told their content was "morally bankrupt" and "dystopian". "In the five inboxes I manage alone, at least 15 emails a day are from an AI company," said Amanda Acevedo of G&B Digital Management.

Memes, homework and short video

Founders-turned-influencers are central to OpenAI's #ad strategy. Badger promoted its ChatGPT Work tools in July and showed viewers how she built a presentation with the chatbot. "Most people following any of us have ChatGPT already … It's more getting people to continue going to ChatGPT as your go-to LLM," she said.

In early September, The Shade Room, a meme page with more than 28 million Instagram followers, posted a sponsored word-search puzzle generated by ChatGPT. Mother of five Martha Dove showed how she uses ChatGPT for her children's math homework, promoting study mode and teen safety features.

Hiring from Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat

OpenAI is also hiring tech veterans who understand creator partnerships. LinkedIn profiles show hires from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat, most visibly Charles Porch, Instagram's longtime head of partnerships, who joined after leaving Meta in 2026. The agency Viral Nation, which has worked with Meta, Google and Uber, handles parts of the campaigns.