> the "notoriety" of the AI is (IMO) mostly a publicity stunt

Have you _used_ ChatGPT? I mean not just asking it random factoids but using it to genuinely help you with something. Are you aware that it's hit 100 million users faster than Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok did? It's not a perfect product but it's hard to argue with those numbers. I work at a startup and most people I work with use ChatGPT daily. I'm talking project managers, devs, personal assistants, etc. I guess that's all to say OpenAI is influential as heck _already_, now imagine 5 years down the line if they play their cards right.