Sora is doing social networking, ChatGPT is advertising, is OpenAI replicating the early Facebook?

The star artificial intelligence company OpenAI is increasingly showing the shadow of social media giant Meta. In a series of strategic shifts aimed at driving user growth and commercial monetization, OpenAI has not only brought in a large number of former Meta employees to take key positions, but its product path and profit model have also begun to replicate Meta's successful trajectory, raising concerns within the company about its original research intentions and prompting the outside world to reassess the future direction of this AI pioneer.

The latest development is that OpenAI's text-to-video application Sora, launched last month, is rapidly topping the app store charts in the form of a social network. However, this direction has sparked widespread concern among internal employees, who worry that the company is unprepared for inherent challenges of social media such as content moderation and platform governance. According to two current employees, during internal meetings and Slack messages, employees have questioned whether this move aligns with the company's development direction.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is breaking past taboos in its commercialization path. According to three current employees, the company's senior management's attitude towards advertising has noticeably softened. CEO Sam Altman recently stated in a podcast that he believes certain advertisements (such as Instagram ads) can add value for users. This statement sharply contrasts with his position last year when he referred to advertising as a "last resort," marking OpenAI's serious consideration of advertising as the most classic internet monetization model to meet the revenue pressures under its high valuation.

Behind this series of changes is the immense commercialization pressure OpenAI faces to support the half-trillion-dollar valuation it achieved months ago. The company is accelerating its transformation from a purely research laboratory to a mature tech giant. For investors, whether OpenAI can maintain its technological innovation advantage and brand reputation while embracing commercialization will be key to determining its long-term value.

Executive Team "Meta-ization" and Cultural Concerns

A direct driving force behind OpenAI's strategic shift is the significant change in its personnel composition. According to an analysis by The Information based on LinkedIn data, nearly 20% (about 630 people) of OpenAI's approximately 3,000 employees have previously worked at Meta. This "Meta alumni" force is so strong that there is a dedicated channel in the company's internal Slack for them to communicate.

These former Meta employees hold several key leadership positions at OpenAI. The new CEO of the applications division, Fidji Simo, worked at Meta for ten years and rose to become the head of Facebook. Additionally, the Chief Technology Officer of the applications division, Vijaye Raji, Chief Marketing Officer Kate Rouch, and Head of Recruitment Joaquin Quiñonero Candela all have Meta backgrounds. Although Simo reassured employees during her first all-hands meeting after taking office that she did not wish to replicate her experience at Meta, this did not completely dispel everyone's concerns According to an employee, earlier this year, an employee working group conducted an internal survey on whether the company culture was "too Meta-like." Some employees, in particular, are wary of Meta's struggles over the past decade in content moderation, user privacy, and teen safety, and do not want OpenAI to repeat those mistakes.

Shifting Focus to User Growth and "Engagement" Metrics

In terms of product strategy, OpenAI is clearly shifting its focus to user growth. According to a former OpenAI employee, Kevin Weil, a former Meta executive who served as the company's Chief Product Officer after joining in 2024, proposed in an internal memo the goal of reaching 1 billion weekly active users for ChatGPT, using the "toothbrush test" (referring to products that users would use daily) suggested by former Google CEO Larry Page. This blatant emphasis on user numbers rather than product quality has caused dissatisfaction among some executives, including then Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati.

Currently, this growth philosophy is being implemented. In company meetings over the past year, Altman has repeatedly emphasized the importance of increasing ChatGPT's user frequency, hoping to shift users from monthly to weekly or even daily usage. To this end, the product team has launched features aimed at enhancing user engagement, such as prompting users with follow-up tasks after ChatGPT completes a response. According to a former employee, to encourage daily use, the company is also working to improve ChatGPT's accuracy in tasks like checking stock prices, sports scores, and weather.

This pursuit of "engagement" has even permeated core research processes. A former employee stated that during the model's post-training phase, the team began to emphasize engagement metrics, which made some employees uneasy, fearing the company would become "engagement farmers."

Loosening Advertising Red Lines and Commercialization Pressure

The most evident sign of OpenAI aligning with the Meta model is its changing attitude towards advertising. In addition to Altman's public statements, Simo, CEO of the applications department, also confirmed in a recent internal meeting that the company is exploring advertising and its potential benefits for users. An interesting finding is that OpenAI learned from user focus group interviews that some users have already assumed that ChatGPT's responses are based on sponsored rankings, which has become an argument for some employees advocating for the introduction of advertising.

On the execution level, a team called "Strategic Initiatives" is exploring the advertising business. According to an employee, this team is led by Irina Kofman, who helped establish Meta's responsible AI team, and most of its members come from Meta. One of the team's key research areas is exploring whether ChatGPT can display ads based on its "memory" (i.e., the information it remembers about users). This is highly similar to Meta's core business model of targeted advertising based on user data Under the pressure of rapid growth, embracing advertising seems inevitable. OpenAI's workforce has nearly quadrupled over the past two years, growing from about 800 to around 3,000 people, with revenue soaring to $4.3 billion in the first half of this year. In the face of investor expectations, OpenAI needs to find sustainable and scalable sources of income.

Internal Checks and Complex Mindsets

Although the trend of "Meta-ization" is evident, OpenAI is not a monolith internally. Some employees welcome the business discipline and focus on business models brought by former Meta employees, believing it is necessary for the company's rapid development. At the same time, the company is also trying to establish "firewalls" to protect its research culture. After Simo took over most of the business, the core research department led by Chief Research Officer Mark Chen still reports directly to Altman and will move into a separate office in San Francisco.

Even Altman, who is pursuing growth, is promoting features aimed at preventing users from becoming overly addicted, such as reminding them to take breaks after prolonged use. This reflects the company's complex mindset in balancing commercial success with maintaining a healthy product ecosystem. However, from Sora's socialization attempts to the open attitude towards advertising business and the increasing emphasis on user engagement metrics, OpenAI is undoubtedly leaving footprints on its commercialization path that are increasingly similar to those of early Facebook