--- title: "Remember That Guy Who Gave ChatGPT $100 to Start a Business? It Failed Miserably" description: "That viral business run by ChatGPT appears to be defunct. But to be fair, despite the AI hype of it all, it never really got off the ground." date: "2023-08-03" modified: "2023-08-03" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/business-chatgpt-green-gadget-guru-fate" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "ai" - "ai bros" - "chatgpt" - "hustlegpt" --- # Remember That Guy Who Gave ChatGPT $100 to Start a Business? It Failed Miserably ![That viral business run by ChatGPT appears to be defunct. But to be fair, despite the AI hype of it all, it never really got off the ground.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* We know you'll be very shocked to hear this, but it doesn't look like that business being "run" by OpenAI's ChatGPT worked out. To recap, [back in March](), a crypto-guy-turned-AI-guy named Jackson Greathouse Fall went extremely viral when he [tweeted that]() he would be going into business with an unusual partner: ChatGPT. Fall would prompt the OpenAI-built chatbot to sketch out a business plan with only $100 in capital to start, and Fall would serve as the bot's right-hand human man, carrying out the plan in its entirety. It was the tweet that launched 1,000 LinkedIn posts, if you will; the project took off like wildfire in hype circles across social media channels, with [hustlebros]() on Instagram [exclaiming]() that Fall had gone "god mode." (The post still resides as Fall's pinned tweet on X-formerly-Twitter.) "I gave GPT-4 a budget of $100 and told it to make as much money as possible. I'm acting as its human liaison, buying anything it says to," reads the viral post. "Do you think it'll be able to make smart investments and build an online business?" Fall pondered, before prompting netizens to "follow along" as he cataloged the venture's progress. Follow along we did, and at first, things seemed to be going somewhat decently. ChatGPT provided what seemed like a [sound-enough business idea]() — Green Gadget Guru, a sustainable living blog called designed to bring in cash through affiliate links and ad revenue — and Fall had managed to build out a website based on the bot's suggestions. He also [claimed]() to have hired some fellow humans to the business' staff by the bot's command, [and according to another tweet](), the project had even raked in some $7,700 or so in donations from folks eager to see how the venture would play out. But now, a few months down the line, there may only be one prompt left to generate: RIP. GreenGadgetGuru.com appears to be defunct, returning only a 404 error code. https://twitter.com/jacksonfall/status/1636107218859745286 To be fair, [the effort had fallen off pretty quickly from the get-go](). Though the website was *technically* functioning, the word "technically" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. For example, though the site listed distinct product categories including Electronics, Home & Garden, Office Supplies, Personal Care, and Kitchen, all said categories were marked by the same basic, logo-less green shirt. And regardless, you couldn't actually click through to any actual products. (There also wasn't even an option for sustainable clothing, so it's unclear where the concept for a green t-shirt came from to begin with.) Elsewhere, all the website's blogs, which were supposed to be bringing in affiliate revenue, were comprised only of "lorem ipsum" text, that Latin blurb that website designers use to test text layouts. Meanwhile, despite these clear gaps in the site's functionality, Fall [claimed in a tweet]() that Green Gadget Guru had managed to garner $130 in revenue *without* any affiliate links or ad sales — which felt a bit strange, considering that we saw neither affiliate links nor ads on the website. But at least the website was still working, and when we questioned Fall about both his revenue claim and the general state of the website towards the end of March, he promised that he was just a little tuckered out. "AI directed website moving at human speed," he told us, also [pointing to a tweet]() where he'd admitted to his followers that "learning how to context-shift multiple times a day" had "kicked his ass." "Promise y'all will have more updates soon," he added, "I know everyone's waiting on the edge of their seats." But those updates never materialized, nor did a better version of the site. In fact, the "human liason" for ChatGPT hasn't posted on either Twitter-formerly-X or Instagram since May, and whether the roughly $7,700 that was donated by enthusiastic netizens ever actually went into the business is unclear; we reached out again for comment, but Fall has yet to return our latest inquiry. Of course, it's hard to drum up too much sympathy for anyone who invests in Some Guy's Viral Idea. And to be clear, Fall doesn't seem malicious. He mostly just seems like a good salesman who went way more viral than he expected, and then — whether by lack of interest or getting overwhelmed — failed to follow through. Regardless, HustleGPT still feels like a cautionary tale. Though AI broadly seems to have [more staying power]() than, say, [Jimmy Fallon's digital monkeys](), it's definitely in the throes of a gold rush, and gold rushes always warrant trepidation. Sure, some lucky folks will strike gold. But others will make a killing selling shovels, especially when a social media-powered hype bubble — which at this point, is becoming routine for buzzy technologies — is in the mix. Just remember this: it's likely that many businesses going all-in on AI right now — including ones with a lot more than $100 in startup capital — are going to flub just as badly as Green Gadget Guru. **More on AI:** [*Sam Altman Says Sorry, AI Is Definitely Destroying Jobs*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()