OpenAI’s ChatGPT-Based Social Media in Development, Pitting the Company Against Musk’s X and Zuckerberg's Meta

OpenAI Explores Building Social Platform With AI Features Amid Growing Rivalries

OpenAI, the company behind the widely used AI generator ChatGPT, is quietly working on a new social media platform that could emerge as a challenger to both Elon Musk’s X and Meta’s expanding AI ecosystem.

According to sources cited by The Verge, the project is still in early development, but internal prototypes already exist.

The concept blends ChatGPT’s image generation capabilities with a social feed, allowing users to share AI-created content in real time.

The company has not confirmed whether this will launch as a separate app or be integrated into ChatGPT, which recently became the most downloaded app globally.

What’s clear is that OpenAI is looking to expand beyond AI tools and into platforms that provide fresh, user-generated data—an asset already central to competitors like X and Meta.

Sam Altman Reportedly Seeking Feedback For Social Media Prototype

CEO Sam Altman is said to be privately showing early versions of the social platform to selected outsiders, requesting feedback on its potential.

While no formal launch plan has been announced, the internal discussions suggest OpenAI is seriously exploring how to position its technology in the content-sharing space.

One concept behind the prototype is for AI to assist users in generating better social posts.

A source from another AI lab, commenting on Musk’s Grok tool, said,

“The Grok integration with X has made everyone jealous. Especially how people create viral tweets by getting it to say something stupid.”

OpenAI’s Move Could Escalate Feud With Elon Musk

The move toward social media could deepen the personal and professional rivalry between Altman and Musk.

Once collaborators, their relationship has grown tense over the years, especially after Musk sued OpenAI in 2024.

Musk claimed the company had strayed from its nonprofit mission to create AI for the benefit of humanity.

OpenAI fired back with a countersuit, accusing Musk of attempting to derail its for-profit transformation, a strategy that has helped secure major funding.

The legal dispute is now heading to a jury trial in 2026.

Earlier this year, Musk reportedly assembled a group of investors to offer $97.4 billion to buy OpenAI.

Altman rejected the proposal outright.

He later posted a message on X,

“no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”

Musk responded by calling him a “swindler.”

Meta Also Prepares AI-Powered Social Tools

Meta Platforms is also developing a standalone app that will include a social feed built around its MetaAI assistant.

Reports about this new feature emerged shortly before Altman hinted at OpenAI’s social plans with a casual post on X, saying,

“ok fine maybe we’ll do a social app.”

If OpenAI’s concept materialises, it would not only challenge Musk’s X but also compete directly with Meta’s user-data-rich platforms—key resources in training advanced AI models.

During the TED 2025 event, Altman shared that OpenAI now serves around 800 million users globally, with its user base doubling in just a few weeks.

Can Altman effectively steer this massive audience toward OpenAI’s upcoming social platform?

Even so, such momentum may still fall short of surpassing Meta’s dominant position.

According to Blog2Social, Meta’s Facebook is leading with 3.15 billion monthly active users, while its popular photo and video-sharing app Instagram has 2 billion users.

Despite ranking eighth, X has maintained 611 million monthly active users after 19 years, showing its ability to remain relevant over time.

The long-term challenge for OpenAI lies in effectively retaining its user base within its platform once the initial hype subsides

Currently, Meta uses its troves of social media data to power Llama, while Musk's xAI relies heavily on real-time X content.

OpenAI Eyes More Than Just Social Media

Beyond the social network plans, OpenAI’s ambitions stretch into enterprise tools.

During a recent event hosted by Goldman Sachs in London, the company’s Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar discussed an upcoming AI agent capable of performing software engineering tasks independently.

Friar explained,

“This is not just augmenting the current software engineers in your workforce, which is kind of what we can do today through Copilot, but instead, it’s literally an agentic software engineer that can build an app for you.”

She added that the tool handles tasks most engineers prefer to avoid, including testing, bug fixing, and documentation.

She said,

“So suddenly, you can force multiply your software engineering workforce.”

The dual strategy—expanding into both social and enterprise AI—signals OpenAI’s intent to widen its footprint as expectations for its growth continue to soar.

With a valuation of $300 billion and recent funding led by SoftBank totalling $40 billion, the company is well-positioned to make strategic developments in 2025.