OpenAI hires a celebrity connector to make AI less unpopular

OpenAI has hired a well-connected insider to improve how people feel about AI. Charles Porch, 45, spent more than a decade building Instagram's network of stars. He joined OpenAI in 2025 as VP of Global Creative Partnerships. New York Magazine profiled him this week.

What happened

Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, hired Porch to do for OpenAI what he did for Instagram: get famous people in Hollywood and beyond to use and partner with the company. The profile shows how hard that has become. In August, news leaked that Gwyneth Paltrow would host a private dinner for Altman at her Amagansett home. Online backlash was harsh, and the dinner was postponed.

The dinner that went sideways

Porch says the internet made it a bigger deal than it was. He says Paltrow invests in AI and hosts investor dinners often. The dinner was held at the end of September at an AI enthusiast's New York apartment. Porch says it went well. He also says dinners are not the strategy, and that he knows they work because he sees the results.

Why Hollywood is wary

The profile describes a creative industry that is nervous. A media executive calls open support for AI probably the biggest third-rail issue in Hollywood, meaning a topic people avoid because it can hurt them. The worries include lost jobs, copyright infringement and AI agents going rogue. A former colleague of Porch says that if the pitch is that AI will destroy an industry, access to Altman will not matter.

What Porch says

Porch argues that public opinion and private behavior do not match. He says people are openly against AI but quietly use it. He compares it to the early days of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, when using them felt shameful to some, until people decided they were incredible. Podcaster Nayeema Raza puts it this way: everyone wants to hate OpenAI, and everyone wants to love Charles Porch.

What it means for you

Expect more famous faces, polished events and friendly introductions tied to AI. These are marketing and relationship efforts. They say little about whether a tool is useful, safe or worth paying for. The profile does not say whether the approach is working, and it does not cover how OpenAI answers the concerns about jobs and copyright.

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