OpenAI social platform could join Threads, Bluesky in reshaping feeds

A new kind of social media platform could be on the horizon, this time powered by artificial intelligence

The Verge reports that OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is exploring plans to launch its own social network

Early concepts suggest it could center around sharing AI-generated content, like images

While details are still developing, the move could place OpenAI in direct competition with major players like Meta's Facebook and Elon Musk's X, adding a new chapter to a long-simmering rivalry

In 2018, Musk resigned from the board of OpenAI and voiced concerns about the company's direction, especially after OpenAI transitioned to a for-profit model

Musk later founded XAI, the company behind Chatbot Rock. By 2024, tensions escalated further when Musk filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit mission

Earlier this month, as we reported, OpenAI countersued and asked a federal court to bar Musk from what it called repeated harassment

But beyond the legal battles, there's a bigger question. How hard is it to launch a new social media platform in today's digital age

In recent years, there have been several new platforms emerge, each with their own angle

Among the most prominent, Meta's Threads, Blue Sky, and Lemon 8. Threads launched in July 2023 as a text-first extension of Instagram

It lets users post updates and join public conversations in a format similar to X

The head of Threads posted an update on the platform last November saying Yesterday we crossed 275 million monthly active users on Threads There a lot more to do and plenty of things to fix but there something exciting about this place Still the

number pales in comparison to Facebook's more than 3 billion monthly active users as of last April

YouTube's 2.5 billion and TikTok's nearly 1.6 billion but threads is still outperforming other

new platforms in terms of growth. Meanwhile, X has experienced a slowdown. Statista reports around

585 million users with U.S. Daily active users down 8.4 percent in late 2024, according to

Mashable. New privacy policies and Musk's political endorsements have influenced user engagement

That opened the door for Blue Sky, which launched publicly in early 2024. It offers a familiar

micro blogging experience but runs on a decentralized protocol giving users more control

over their data and algorithm preferences. There are currently no ads and monetization plans are

still in development. As of January the platform reached 30 million users and then there's Lemon

8 TikTok's sister app. The app is comparable to Pinterest and Instagram focusing on lifestyle

content. In January Fortune reported it had just hit over 1 million daily active U.S. users

Its popularity spiked amid growing concerns about a potential TikTok ban. OpenAI's platform remains in development, and according to The Verge

it's still unclear whether the project will take form of a standalone app or integrate directly into ChatGPT

With Stray Arrow news, I'm Kennedy Felton. Download our app or visit san.com for more