AI firms court influencers with $500K-plus deals to promote the very tools that may displace them

OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google are building out influencer marketing infrastructure. Google and Microsoft offer creators $500,000-plus to promote AI products. The creators targeted overlap with those most exposed to AI displacement — image and video generation tools threaten their craft directly. OpenAI hired Instagram's former VP of global partnerships and posted creator-focused roles. One influencer deleted her OpenAI trip video after press inquiry.