- Speculation that OpenAI might buy Pinterest sparked an intense backlash from some Pinterest users
- They worry that artificial intelligence would disrupt one of the Internet’s last largely user-curated creative spaces
- The rumor, which emerged as a prediction rather than a reported deal, nevertheless boosted Pinterest’s stock price.
The idea that OpenAI could acquire Pinterest was born out of a speculative prediction piece from The informationbut it was enough to spark outrage among many Pinterest users and boost Pinterest’s stock price even without any kind of official statement. Across Reddit and other corners of the internet, longtime Pinterest users didn’t hesitate to voice their distaste for the potential move.
The original prediction framed the acquisition as a logical extension of OpenAI’s strategy. The company could leverage Pinterest’s rich image archive, existing advertising channels and connections to stores to help build its own generative commerce ambitions.
OpenAI’s image models and Sora video generation tools are already making rapid progress. Pairing them with Pinterest’s consumer-facing curation engine and shoppable catalog of inspiration could be a shortcut to its goals. That likely helped lead the stock rally for Pinterest.
But Pinterest’s users are concerned about more than logistics or stock prices. They have questions about control and creativity in the wake of OpenAI acquiring the platform they spend so much time on. A reluctance to the idea of artificial intelligence filling their digital scrapbooks permeated the reactions.
On Reddit’s r/Pinterest, the backlash was swift and emotional. “But seriously, this is really depressing. I hate AI being pushed into every corner of my life. wrote one user. “I know we JUST started the new year, but I need it to be April Fools right now,” wrote another.
Many expressed the opinion that Pinterest feels like the last social platform that still feels like it belongs to its users. People use it to gather ideas, plan renovations, collect recipes, design weddings, map out fantasy bookshelves, and other speculative dreams.
Some promised to download their boards and walk away from the platform entirely if the purchase actually happened. Many did not like the idea that their creative ideas, mood boards or just half-formed plans could become training fodder for AI tools.
Pinterest users AI resistance
While AI-generated images and summaries are built into Google results, Amazon listings, Canva templates and even weather apps, Pinterest’s use of AI has been mostly experimental and involved visual search, personalized feeds and a ChatGPT-style search tool. But the user experience is still centered on manual curation. You choose what goes on your board.
The digital behavior built around gathering and visual thinking may arguably be exactly what OpenAI wants to tap into. That mismatch between intent and perception is why the speculation feels so charged.
To be clear, there is no concrete agreement on the way. the information’s prediction was one of many forward-looking statements about 2026, not a report based on insider information. Neither company has confirmed any interest. But even without real movement, the reaction shows that the mere possibility is enough to ignite a cultural flare.
If OpenAI were to acquire it, the brand would likely have to work overtime to assure users that their boards wouldn’t become raw material for machine learning pipelines. The intensity of the reaction suggests that the story of AI’s consumer integration is far from settled. People are still deciding where to draw the line. And some may just go completely offline instead of being forced into the AI space.
“I was a beta user of Pinterest in 2010. 3 years later when Google Reader was removed I went and pinned all my saved blog posts. I’ve planned parties, designed my living spaces, made wish lists and figured out my personal style, plus I’ve learned to be a better person and parent,” wrote one Reddit user. “I’m so shocked by this, it’s a massive loss. More reason to go offline.”
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