Trending Now: OpenAI Hires Instagram Celebrity Partnerships Executive Charles Porch – Fans React

In a major hire with implications for the entertainment business, OpenAI is bringing on Charles Porch to be VP of global creative partnerships.

Porch had been with Meta and Instagram for 15 years, where he served as the liaison between the platform and the creative community, onboarding A-listers and helping celebrities use the platform to bolster their brands and launch new products.

“From helping Beyoncé figure out how to launch an album exclusively on social media to onboarding Pope Francis to Instagram (he held my hands and asked me to pray for him) to watching creators become the next generation of entrepreneurs, the impact on culture that me and the team have been able to have is something that I take great pride in,” Porch wrote on Instagram Wednesday.

The executive is extremely well-connected in the creative and celebrity class (Mariska Hargitay, Harry Styles and Maye Musk were all guests at his wedding to Robert Denning last year), and will likely be putting those connections to good use at OpenAI, which is seeking to make inroads with the entertainment industry. After last year’s Sora fiasco, the company cut a deal with Disney to bring hundreds of its characters to the platform.

“My entire career has been dedicated to threading the needle between culture and tech, and the intersection of AI and culture is the next chapter in this journey,” Porch wrote. “I am excited to work with creative communities around the world to develop the next generation of products that will power how we learn, explore and entertain ourselves.”

His hire suggests that OpenAI is planning a larger push not only into entertainment, but the creator economy, though how that will look and feel remains uncertain for now.

Vanity Fair first reported Porch’s hire.