{"slug": "influencers-are-being-dragged-for-indulging-in-a-luxury-new-york-nature-retreat", "title": "Influencers are being dragged for indulging in a luxury New York nature retreat on OpenAI’s dime", "summary": "OpenAI's first-ever brand trip, which sent influencers to the luxury Wildflower Farms resort in New York's Hudson Valley to promote its new ChatGPT Work tool, sparked online backlash as commenters accused the creators of hypocrisy for celebrating AI amid the environmental harms of data centers. OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri defended the trip, saying creators are an important part of the community and that the company welcomes healthy debate.", "body_md": "When you think ChatGPT, do you think of lush forests, relaxing retreats, and community bonding? Probably not—but with its first-ever brand trip, OpenAI seemingly aimed to change that perception.\n\nIt didn’t work.\n\nThe trip saw a group of influencers stay in luxury cabins at Wildflower Farms, a resort in New York’s Hudson Valley. On OpenAI’s dime, the creators enjoyed fine dining, exciting excursions, and played around with the company’s newest tools, posting to their followers all the while.\n\n“Officially letting my [AI](https://www.fastcompany.com/section/artificial-intelligence) assistant do the work so I can enjoy more of all this goodness,” one attendee, business influencer Nat Lucy, captioned [her post about the trip](https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbg1wWmga2P/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==).\n\nAnother creator, Sreya Halder, gushed about “the dreamiest weekend upstate” in [a video](https://www.instagram.com/p/DbgbtXrhjoL/) showing off custom pajamas, a private patio, and a care package from OpenAI. [In another](https://www.instagram.com/p/DbilzcgieGr/), she highlighted some of the activities she and other attendees participated in, including creative AI-based challenges, panels on AI use, and—breaking the AI theme—beekeeping.\n\nBut what was a dream for the creators on the trip inspired a nightmare in their comments sections, as social media users called out the apparent hypocrisy of celebrating AI on a nature retreat.\n\nAcross several of the attendees’ posts, commenters railed against their partnership with OpenAI. Given AI data centers’ negative environmental impact, from [noise pollution](https://www.fastcompany.com/91580200/viral-clip-reveals-what-data-center-sounds-like-people-are-comparing-it-to-torture-ai) to [water waste](https://www.fastcompany.com/91382446/data-centers-use-massive-energy-and-water-heres-how-to-build-them-better), the pastoral setting of the brand trip sparked outrage online.\n\n“Ironic celebrating nature while data centers are literally destroying it,” one commenter wrote under Lucy’s post.\n\n“Pretending this a trip for ‘cReAtiVe TeChiEs’ and not blatant AI propaganda is gross and you clearly think your audience is dumb,” wrote another under one of Halder’s videos.\n\nA third creator on the trip, Grace McCarrick, responded to a commenter who accused her of “selling her morals.”\n\n“My morals are not compromised. I am supremely excited about AI and the opportunities it offers to our species,” McCarrick said [in her video](https://www.tiktok.com/@graceforpersonalityhires/video/7669484144493153550?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc). “Beyond that, any time there’s going to be some vast sweeping change to the way we live, if I have an opportunity to be in the room and hear from the people who are at the helm of that change, I’m going to do that.”\n\nIn [a post on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gracemccarrick_i-went-on-openais-first-ever-brand-trip-activity-7489983409877049344-4XSx?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAC4_zOsBVpnDC-XxiVoYCI0HMqw07P9Sc_c), McCarrick added that she “genuinely had no idea that people were this anti-AI” and she “didn’t for one second consider it could be controversial.”\n\nAs its partner creators come under fire, OpenAI maintains a positive outlook on the brand trip (and on the discourse it stirred up).\n\n“Creators are an important part of our community and how people get information and learn about our products today,” OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri tells *Fast Company*. “We welcome healthy debate as AI becomes more prevalent, and we value creators who choose to engage with us, attend our events, ask tough questions, and learn alongside everyone else.\n\nPusateri says that this brand trip was specifically meant for creators to learn about ChatGPT Work, a new AI tool that automates workplace tasks by connecting with existing platforms like Slack and Teams. Beyond this one trip, he adds, OpenAI has ongoing partnerships with various creators as part of its broader [marketing](https://www.fastcompany.com/section/marketing) strategy.\n\n“We’ll continue to value them, just as we do traditional media and other marketing partners,” Pusateri says.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/influencers-are-being-dragged-for-indulging-in-a-luxury-new-york-nature-retreat", "canonical_source": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91584927/openai-chatgpt-brand-trip-influencers-dragged-for-indulging-in-luxury-new-york-nature-retreat", "published_at": "2026-08-04 18:45:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-04 19:24:54.993856+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["generative-ai", "ai-products", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["OpenAI", "Wildflower Farms", "Nat Lucy", "Sreya Halder", "Grace McCarrick", "Drew Pusateri", "ChatGPT Work"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/influencers-are-being-dragged-for-indulging-in-a-luxury-new-york-nature-retreat", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/influencers-are-being-dragged-for-indulging-in-a-luxury-new-york-nature-retreat.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/influencers-are-being-dragged-for-indulging-in-a-luxury-new-york-nature-retreat.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/influencers-are-being-dragged-for-indulging-in-a-luxury-new-york-nature-retreat.jsonld"}}