OpenAI is considering buying Pinterest. Do you see this acquisition as promising?
Today, I read in the news that OpenAI is considering "expanding its data footprint" and possibly buying Pinterest, as there is a lot of data on it just for the sake of users finding inspiration (which can be key for purchase decision making and understanding personas – Pinterest has 600M+ users).
I also take into account how Pinterest started to resent the proliferation of AI content there – users do not like it so much (as far as I know, OpenAI also wants to have its own social network, and Sora curation is a bit reminiscent of that)
Do you think that this acquisition may happen?
What would it mean for Pinterest and also for OpenAI?
To be honest, I always found Pinterest to be the centre of creative ideas, but I am afraid that this platform will be flooded by AI and will become inauthentic and uncreative. But this acquisition may have nothing to do with that.
Replies
Can't they just pay them a license to access the content ?
@webshark This would not work if they actually wanted to own a social network. However, I’m not sure if AI and social networks actually blend. IMO, social implies genuine communication with real people.
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@webshark Probably pricy in the long term. I can bet if they wanted to deal with them in such a way, Pinterest would take only high offers for a monthly access to updated data.
@webshark @busmark_w_nika I keep having this feeling that we'll tip over an edge where AI won't need generated content from humans and then software valuations go to zero.
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@webshark @tinyorgtech AI will help itself, but then, what is the point of "human" and what is the point of "AI"? Also, I have heard that there is a "base salary" theory. That AI will do work for us and people will have some basic salary, tho I am not so sure how this is supposed to work.
@webshark @busmark_w_nika UBI (Universal Basic Income). It's a very popular proposal from democratic senators like Bernie Sanders. The concern is that unlike the industrial revolution which displaced the value of being "strong", AI is displacing the value of being "smart" which is more invasive. If it came to pass, there would need to be some solution to offer so many industries that lose the "human" value.
Agreed with ur opinion, imagine searching for cozy kitchen ideas and getting 1000 AI images with 15 sinks and a floating chair:D Actually a scary thing, pinterest will lose its soul if this happens, because its one of the last places on the web that doesn't feel lika a bot-infested warzone imo.
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@eugene_chernyak Time to say last goodbye to our favourite creative platform.
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@marco_di_cesare I agree with your POV. But when people start abandoning the platform later, what will have the data then?
I’m a bit split on this. Strategically, it makes sense on paper Pinterest is intent-rich, visual, and closer to decision-making than most social platforms. That kind of data is very different from conversational or search data.
But culturally, it’s tricky. Pinterest’s value comes from trust and taste, and that’s fragile. If AI becomes too visible or floods the feed, it risks breaking the very signal that makes the platform useful in the first place.
If something like this ever happened, I’d expect the real challenge not to be acquisition or tech, but restraint: using AI to improve discovery and relevance without turning inspiration into synthetic noise. That balance feels hard and probably determines whether this would be promising or destructive.
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@syed_hassan9 I have no doubt that the AI team would be able to keep things under control, the question is how they plan to prevent AI content from spreading on Pinterest (although there is already a lot of it). But I can open Sora for the AI portfolio right now.
@busmark_w_nika Control on the model side is one thing, but distribution and incentives are the harder problem. Once AI content blends in at scale, it’s less about capability and more about governance and taste.
Opening Sora for portfolio-style use makes sense contained context, clearer intent. The real challenge is what happens when generation becomes frictionless everywhere.
Honestly, I really love Pinterest.
Especially in a time when AI content is everywhere, coming across images that are beautiful, carefully crafted, and feel like they have a soul genuinely lifts my mood.
It’s also an inspiration source for so many AI creators — basically the reference library for prompts and visual direction guides. I was even joking a few days ago that I should just buy their stock.
This potential acquisition actually made me think of Sora partnering with Disney.
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@jojo_li I think that Disney and Sora would be a friendlier option... tho I think that some streaming company at some point will acquire it. Maybe.
I’m a bit sceptical this would actually happen, but it’s an interesting thought experiment.
A licence gets you data. An acquisition gets you distribution, incentives, and control over how the product evolves - especially the feed and monetisation. That’s probably the real difference.
The part that feels risky to me is exactly what you mention: Pinterest works because it feels human and intentional. If AI floods the feed, the value disappears.
If OpenAI were ever involved, they’d have to focus less on generating content and more on curation, provenance, and quality control, otherwise they’d be buying something only to break it.
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@ivo_gospodinov Pinterest is already full of AI garbage, and because of that, I do not find it so attractive as I used to. With the photo stocks, it is the same.
I'm also following this closely, and I'm curious to see how everything will unfold. I've noticed that Pinterest users are quite upset about the possibility of this happening. Plus, I've also noticed there's a pattern of hardcore users being against AI content on Pinterest - me included, so this could also just be my digital bubble.
I believe this acquisition could lead to a drop in users, making room for a Pinterest-like platform that has a no-AI content policy. At the same time, I also believe it would benefit OpenAI to have its own social network, even with a slight drop in the number of users post-acquisition.
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@ruxandra_mazilu But the sad part is, that even IG started being flooded by AI garbage. Ads, organic content, even TV ads. It feels so fake. Everything.
I bet it happens. It would be a small gain for OpenAI and their need for more data to digest into their LLMs. Unlike Google that powers so many data generators, OpenAI needs to find new outlets. That said, it would probably hurt the Pinterest user base because how could you trust an AI company to keep content on the platform human generated?
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@tinyorgtech Pinterest will be buried. Maybe.
@busmark_w_nika maybe the same fate as Flickr, MySpace, Yahoo.
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@tinyorgtech But at least, they will earn big money from the acquisition... :D
I definitely see how it could make sense strategically for OpenAI, but personally I feel conflicted. I'm afraid that if this were to happen, AI will flood Pinterest faster than humans can contribute and creators will feel left out or devalued.
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@aniela_oprea Have you seen it yet? It is already full of AI. :D terrible!