OpenAI’s first brand trip for influencers, dubbed OpenAI Summer Camp, backfired after critics lashed out at the artificial intelligence lab for its “tone deaf” event. The high-end getaway was held at Wildflower Farms, a “luxury resort in New York’s Hudson Valley,” where room rates can exceed $2,000 a night. Creators received lessons about OpenAI’s latest tools, a session with a beekeeper, and branded merchandise including canvas bags and jars of honey. The trip came as the AI lab faces controversy amid anxiety about “rising energy prices, water use and potential job displacement.” Critics questioned why a company associated with “several energy- and water-intensive data centers” was treating influencers at a “nature-focused resort.” Comment sections on influencers’ posts were flooded with messages citing “environmental effects of the AI boom, the contentious buildout of data centers across the U.S.” and potential job loss. Creator Grace McCarrick, who posted a video from the trip, said she “genuinely had no idea that people were this anti-AI” and described “shocking AI psychosis running rampant online.” OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said content creators are an “important part of our community and how people get information and learn about our products today,” welcoming “healthy debate.” While other AI labs, including Anthropic and Microsoft, have worked with influencers, none of their trips “struck as big of a nerve as this OpenAI brand trip