Pinterest Jumps 3% on OpenAI Acquisition Speculation
The Information predicts OpenAI will buy Pinterest in 2026, sending shares higher as traders bet on a deal for the image-rich platform.
OpenAI buying Pinterest wasn't on anyone's 2026 bingo card. But here we are.
Pinterest shares jumped 3% on Friday after The Information published its annual predictions piece, forecasting that OpenAI would acquire the image-sharing platform sometime this year. The report sent traders scrambling to reassess a stock that's been dead money for nearly three years.
The prediction comes with caveats—it's speculation, not reporting—but the logic isn't crazy. And the market is taking it seriously enough to bid up shares.
Why Pinterest Makes Sense
OpenAI needs data, and Pinterest has a lot of it.
The platform hosts 80 billion monthly visual search queries from its 600 million users. That's first-party intent data—people actively looking for things to buy, make, or do. For an AI company building image generators and shopping assistants, that's gold.
Pinterest also has something OpenAI lacks: an advertising business. The company generated $807 million in revenue last quarter, up 18% year-over-year. OpenAI has hinted at launching ads in 2026. Buying Pinterest would skip the build phase entirely.
Then there's the merchant infrastructure. Pinterest has spent years cultivating relationships with retailers and building commerce features. An AI-powered shopping experience—imagine ChatGPT that can show you what you're looking for—would benefit from those existing partnerships.
The strategic logic mirrors what we've seen across AI, where companies are racing to build data moats through licensing deals and acquisitions.
The Numbers
Pinterest trades at roughly $25 per share, giving it a market cap around $17.5 billion. That's about where the stock sat in early 2023, before the AI hype cycle really took off.
For context, OpenAI's valuation recently topped $150 billion. A Pinterest acquisition would be large but digestible—roughly 10-12% of OpenAI's implied equity value.
The complication: voting control. Co-founders Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra hold about two-thirds of the company's voting shares. Any deal would need their blessing.
Silbermann stepped back from day-to-day operations in 2022 but remains chairman. Whether he'd be willing to sell the company he spent 15 years building is anyone's guess. But at the right price, founders often find their principles flexible.
What The Information Actually Said
Reporter Ann Gehan included the Pinterest prediction in a piece titled "Sutskever's Fate, OpenAI's Next Deal, A Hit Robot—and 13 Other Predictions for 2026." The format was explicitly speculative, covering everything from startup trends to regulatory developments.
Gehan argued that Pinterest's image library would complement OpenAI's video and image generation tools, particularly as the company competes with Google and Meta on creative AI. She also noted that Pinterest's digital scrapbooking features could power new AI shopping experiences.
It's a theory, not a scoop. No sources confirmed active talks. But The Information has a strong track record on tech M&A, and the prediction wasn't buried—it got prominent placement.
Market Reaction
Pinterest's 3% pop might seem modest, but it breaks a pattern. The stock fell 15% in 2025 while the broader market rallied. Investors had written off the platform as a social media also-ran, stuck between Meta's scale and TikTok's cultural relevance.
The acquisition speculation changes the narrative. Even if OpenAI never makes an offer, traders are now pricing in optionality that wasn't there before. Pinterest as a standalone business might struggle to reignite growth. Pinterest as an AI data asset is a different story.
Options activity spiked on Friday. Call volume exceeded put volume by a 3-to-1 margin, with most interest concentrated in near-term expirations. Traders are betting on follow-up news rather than positioning for a deal they don't expect.
The Bigger Picture
OpenAI's expansion beyond chatbots has been telegraphed for months. The company has added image generation, video creation, and browser-based tools. Each addition pushes it further into territory currently occupied by Google, Meta, and Amazon.
A Pinterest acquisition would fit that pattern—moving from text to visual, from conversation to commerce. It would also give OpenAI something more valuable than technology: a built-in user base and proven revenue model.
Whether it happens is unknowable. But the market is telling you something: Pinterest as an acquisition target is worth more than Pinterest grinding it out alone. That asymmetry explains why the stock moved on a prediction rather than a fact.
The semiconductor rally and data center buildout have dominated AI coverage. But the next phase—monetization through commerce and advertising—will require different assets. Pinterest has them.
For now, it's just a prediction. But predictions have a way of becoming self-fulfilling when enough people start taking them seriously.