OpenAI’s $2,000-A-Night Summer Camp Teaches Influencers How To Buzz Literally

KEY POINTS

•OpenAI hosted an influencer 'Summer Camp' at Wildflower Farms resort in New York's Hudson Valley.
•The event included farm-to-table meals, AI tool lessons, and a beekeeper session with branded canvas bags and honey jars.
•Critics called the pricey weekend greenwashing amid backlash over OpenAI’s data center energy and water use.

In a twist that screams tech meets frolicking influencers, OpenAI hosted a so-called 'Summer Camp' at New York's Wildflower Farms, a sprawling 140-acre resort where rooms start north of $2,000 nightly. Over a weekend last July 31, content creators ate farm-to-table food beneath bistro lights under tree canopies, surrounded by glowing OpenAI logos to remind them this isn’t just a picnic. The itinerary? Officially educational: exploring OpenAI's latest tools—like ChatGPT Work—plus a beekeeper session that mixed AI with real buzzing bugs. Guests also scored OpenAI swag, including canvas bags and jars of honey. Critics called it 'greenwashing,' as this luxury haven contrasted with OpenAI’s growing US data center footprint blamed for energy and water concerns. As if the bait-and-switch between ethical AI and influencer vacation wasn’t enough, the company claims it was just 'marketing practical uses' through creators, presumably to distract from public image woes caused by job and planet worries. Still, the image of tech elites swapping drone bots for actual drones while telling us how important creators are at this $60,000-a-week economics lesson is deliciously absurd. We're all terrible drivers on the road of tech hype, but at least these ones had gourmet dinners and honey bags as they crashed.