OpenAI, the San Francisco-based company behind ChatGPT, is reportedly developing a new social media app that could rival Elon Musk’s X. According to sources familiar with the project, the early prototype of the platform features a social media feed focused on AI-generated images.
The experimental app, currently being tested internally, includes a social media feed, with CEO Sam Altman seeking feedback from individuals outside of the company. It remains unclear whether OpenAI plans to launch the platform as a standalone app or integrate it into ChatGPT, which was the most downloaded app globally last month, with 46 million new downloads, according to Appfigures.
If OpenAI does move forward with the project, it could intensify the already-existing rivalry between Altman and Musk. Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, left the company in 2018. Earlier this year, Musk offered $97.4 billion to acquire OpenAI, but Altman reportedly rejected the offer, responding with, “no thank you, but we will buy Twitter [now known as X] for $9.74 billion if you want,” The Verge reported.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, could also find itself in competition with OpenAI. The report notes that Meta is planning to launch its own AI-powered social media app, further intensifying the competition in the space.
In February, after news emerged that Meta was developing a ChatGPT rival, Altman responded on X, saying, “ok fine maybe we’ll do a social app.” A social media platform would allow OpenAI to gather real-time user data to improve its AI models, similar to how Meta and Musk’s xAI operate, according to The Verge.
Musk has already integrated his AI company, xAI, with X. Grok, a chatbot developed by xAI, pulls content from X to inform its responses, helping users create viral content.
It remains uncertain whether OpenAI will release its social media prototype to the public.