OpenAI's luxury influencer retreat sparks backlash over AI's environmental and ethical costs
A farm-to-table weekend in upstate New York was meant to win over content creators. Instead, it handed critics a very photogenic target.
Key points
- OpenAI hosted its first influencer brand trip, called "Summer Club," at a luxury retreat in upstate New York in July 2025.
- Creators attended farm-to-table dinners, beekeeping sessions, and workshops on using OpenAI products.
- Viewer backlash focused on AI's environmental costs, OpenAI's reported $500 billion data-centre deal in Ohio, and a separate $200 million contract with the US Department of Defense.
- At least one influencer deleted her video after negative comments; another wrote on LinkedIn that she had not expected the controversy.
- Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, and Microsoft Copilot have run similar influencer events with far less public reaction.
OpenAI sent a group of social-media influencers, people who build audiences on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, to a luxury resort in upstate New York for a weekend event it called "Summer Club." The programme included farm-to-table meals, beekeeping, a painting workshop, and tutorials on OpenAI's products, including ChatGPT.
The creators posted short videos and photos. The content looked polished and pleasant. The comment sections did not.
Why did people react so badly?
Viewers zeroed in on the timing and the optics. OpenAI is reportedly close to a $500 billion agreement to build a large data centre in Ohio, and AI data centres, which consume significant amounts of electricity and water to keep their computers cool, have drawn growing public concern about their environmental footprint. Spending a weekend celebrating AI products at a nature retreat struck many commenters as tone-deaf.
Others pointed to OpenAI's $200 million contract with the US Department of Defense, which fuelled a separate strand of criticism in the replies. One person who left a negative comment told TechCrunch that "posh influencer events" give people "ammunition to have negative opinions" and that bragging about a luxury stay while "the world is on fire" sends the wrong message.
At least one influencer subsequently deleted her video from the trip, although she kept other posts that did not explicitly mention the OpenAI event. A second creator wrote on LinkedIn that she expected viewers to be curious about "behind-the-scenes tips and tricks" and said she "didn't for one second consider it would be controversial."
Is this unusual for AI companies?
No. OpenAI is not the first to try this approach. Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, reportedly held an influencer dinner for Claude. Microsoft ran a Copilot brand trip to the Super Bowl in February 2025, first reported by the newsletter Sarah and Kate. Neither event generated anything close to the same volume of criticism.
The Summer Club trip also fits a deliberate strategy. In February 2025, OpenAI hired Charles Porch, previously Instagram's VP of global partnerships, as its first VP of global creative partnerships. Porch described his role at the time as talking to creative communities to learn how OpenAI could "build the best products to serve them."
What does this mean for ordinary people?
If you follow any of the creators involved, you may have already seen (or noticed the absence of) content from this trip. The practical takeaway is simple: when an influencer attends a brand event, that content is sponsored promotion, whether or not a hashtag says so. The same scepticism you apply to a hotel review paid for by the hotel applies here.
The wider debate this week is really about public trust in AI companies. Concerns about energy use, military contracts, and corporate spending are real and documented. An aesthetic weekend retreat did not create those concerns, but it made them very easy to talk about.
OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
Common questions
Were the influencers paid to attend?
The source reporting does not confirm whether creators received payment beyond the trip itself. Sponsored travel counts as a form of compensation under US Federal Trade Commission disclosure rules, meaning creators are required to disclose the arrangement to their audiences.
What is an AI data centre, and why do people worry about it?
A data centre is a large building packed with powerful computers that run AI systems around the clock. Running and cooling those computers uses large amounts of electricity and water, raising concerns about carbon emissions and local resource use, particularly when new facilities are planned at the scale OpenAI is reportedly pursuing in Ohio.
