Influencers who attended OpenAI’s first-ever brand trip over the weekend are facing backlash from followers who called the outing completely “tone deaf,” saying the influencers were allowing themselves to be used as “pawn[s]” for a company that is harming both the environment and society at large.
AI companies — like OpenAI, which runs ChatGPT — have been partnering with influencers and celebrities to curry more favorable public perception in light of well-chronicled worries about the technology: Half of American adults said in a June 2025 study that the increased use of AI in daily life is more concerning than exciting.
In February, OpenAI poached Instagram’s Charles Porch, whom Vanity Fair called a “celebrity whisperer,” to serve as the company’s vice president of global creative partnerships in an attempt to win support from Hollywood and beyond.
Like Anthropic and Microsoft Copilot before them, OpenAI arranged a brand trip to Wildflower Farms in Gardiner, New York, for select influencers: It’s a marketing tactic to reach audiences — the company covers the cost of the trip, and the influencers post about it on their social media accounts.
Grace McCarrick, one of the influencers, posted a video on Instagram where, in the background, the bathtub in her cabin was filling up with water — something commenters found ironic, considering that one of the main concerns about AI is the high power consumption and cooldown requirements of its data centers, which drain or negatively impact water supplies in towns across the country.
“The entire thing feels thoughtful,” McCarrick said in her video. Many of those who saw the video thought otherwise.
“The Effingham residents in my state of Georgia are about to lose a lot of potable water. But glad you go to unwind while we all protest this monstrosity,” one wrote.
“It’s beautiful and you have to be so entitled not to see the irony of your actions. Our children deserve a future,” wrote another.
Since its inception in 2015, OpenAI has also faced negative reactions for a number of other things in addition to the data center discourse: It has been accused of using other people’s work to train its AI and the technology has allegedly encouraged users to hurt or kill themselves.
Megan Lieu, another creator, bragged about her cabin at Wildflower Farms and told her 227,000 followers that they should post more on LinkedIn if they want to be invited to similar trips.
Commenters on her video, however, focused on something else.
“Sick brand trip. Did they promise you access to the water supplies when we lose it,” one comment read. Another commenter wrote, “The irony of them hosting this in nature when they are absolutely wrecking nature all over the world. Gross decision to participate.”
Avni Barman also went on the brand trip, but many of her 514,000 followers didn’t seem to mind, as her video — where she showed off her cabin as well as seminars she attended — drew mostly positive feedback.
McCarrick, Lieu, Barman and OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
