Sam Altman-led OpenAI is reportedly considering buying social media platform Pinterest this year. The prediction appears in a report titled “Sutskever’s Fate, OpenAI’s Next Deal, A Hit Robot – and 13 Other Predictions for 2026”, published by The Information.
ReporterA Ann Gehan wrote that this could turn out to be “OpenAI’s biggest acquisition yet”, aimed at strengthening its presence in online shopping and digital advertising.
Pinterest stock jumps after report
Following the report, Pinterest’s shares rose 3% on Friday, according to Investing.com. The market reaction suggests investors are taking the possibility of a deal seriously, even though neither OpenAI nor Pinterest has confirmed any such talks.
Why OpenAI is interested in Pinterest
OpenAI’s main interest lies in Pinterest’s vast image database, its existing advertising setup and its long-standing relationships with merchants. Pinterest’s digital scrapbooking and visual discovery tools could work well with OpenAI’s image and video generation products, helping the AI company compete more strongly with rivals like Google, according to The Information report.
The report noted that Pinterest shares are currently trading around $25, roughly the same level as in early 2023. This values the company at about $17.5 billion. It also pointed out that co-founders Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra together control nearly two-thirds of the company’s voting power.
Silbermann stepped down as CEO in mid-2022 and is no longer involved in daily operations.
While Pinterest has rolled out AI-powered features such as conversational search to take on platforms like ChatGPT, the report suggests OpenAI may see more benefit in buying Pinterest rather than competing with it directly in the long run.
Pinterest is a social media platform focused on product and idea discovery. Users, known as pinners, use it to collect ideas related to home décor, fashion, food, travel and more.
The company earns most of its revenue from digital advertising, with North America contributing a large share. With a market capitalisation of around $17.9 billion, Pinterest operates in the Communication Services sector under the Interactive Media industry, as per a GuruFocus report.