TLDR

OpenAI is reportedly building an X-like social platform with AI image generation features
The project is still in early development but has a prototype with a social feed
CEO Sam Altman has been seeking feedback from outsiders about the concept
This move intensifies rivalries with Elon Musk’s X and Meta’s planned AI assistant platform
The development comes during ongoing legal battles between OpenAI and Musk

OpenAI is developing its own social media platform that could directly compete with Elon Musk’s X, according to reports from The Verge and confirmed by sources to CNBC. The project, still in its early stages, centers around a social feed integrated with ChatGPT’s popular image generation capabilities.

The move represents a new chapter in the growing rivalry between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk. This development comes as the two tech leaders are locked in an intensifying legal conflict.

Sources familiar with the matter indicate that while the concept remains in prototype form, Altman has begun soliciting feedback from outsiders. The timing coincides with the massive popularity of OpenAI’s newest image-generation tools, which reportedly led to an overloading of the company’s servers.

“Our GPUs are melting,” Altman posted on X in late March, referring to the graphics processing units powering the AI workloads. The company temporarily limited usage of the feature while working to improve efficiency.

Strategic Expansion into Social Media

The potential social network would place OpenAI in direct competition with both Musk’s X platform and Meta, which is reportedly planning to add a social feed to its upcoming AI assistant app.

This positioning isn’t accidental. When reports of Meta building a ChatGPT rival first emerged a few months ago, Altman responded on X: “ok fine maybe we’ll do a social app.”

A source at another major AI lab told The Verge: “The Grok integration with X has made everyone jealous, especially how people create viral tweets by getting it to say something stupid.”

Developing a social platform would give OpenAI access to its own real-time user data, a valuable resource that X and Meta already leverage to train their AI models. Musk recently merged X and xAI into a single company, allowing Grok to surface content directly from X in its results.

The social media project’s existence shows how OpenAI is thinking about expansion at a time when expectations for future growth are high. The company recently closed what amounts to the largest private tech funding round on record, raising $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation in March.

Legal Battles and Power Struggles

The social media development unfolds against the backdrop of escalating legal conflicts between OpenAI and Musk. Last week, OpenAI countersued Musk, accusing him of attempting a hostile takeover via a $97 billion offer and using “bad-faith tactics” to gain control of the company he co-founded.

OpenAI is seeking damages and a court order to block further interference from Musk. When Musk made his unsolicited offer to purchase OpenAI in February, Altman responded on X: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”

In March, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming it abandoned its nonprofit roots. While a judge denied Musk’s request to block OpenAI’s transition to a capped-profit structure, the case has been fast-tracked for trial in fall 2025.

OpenAI claims that Musk was actually the first to advocate for a for-profit model, as long as he controlled it. The company released internal emails showing Musk proposing in 2017 to take control of the board and become CEO, writing, “I would unequivocally have initial control of the company.”

Since leaving OpenAI, Musk launched xAI, which recently merged with X in an all-stock deal valuing xAI at $80 billion. The company’s flagship AI model, Grok-3, debuted in February and is expected to scale further.

It remains unclear whether OpenAI plans to release the social network as a separate app or integrate it into ChatGPT, which became the most downloaded app globally last month. An OpenAI spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

The project is reportedly inspired by the viral popularity of OpenAI’s image generation tools, particularly the anime-style renderings of users’ uploaded photos that have spread across X and other platforms. Altman himself changed his X profile photo to an image generated by this new feature.

OpenAI’s latest image-generation tool, released in March, creates everything from diagrams and infographics to logos and business cards. The feature can also use existing images as starting points for art, such as custom pet paintings or edited professional headshots.

The post AI Wars Heat Up: OpenAI Plans X Competitor as Legal Battle with Elon Musk Intensifies appeared first on CoinCentral.

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Filed under: News - @ April 16, 2025 8:25 am