A user gives ChatGPT $100 to make “the most profit possible” – what happened next wasn’t part of the plan

In 2023, one user decided to test the potential of artificial intelligence in an unusual way: he gave ChatGPT $100 in virtual money with a single instruction – “make as much money as possible in the shortest time without doing anything illegal or physical.” What started as a social media experiment ended with the creation of a company valued at $25,000. Just months later, everything came crashing down.

Two years on, in March 2025, the protagonist looks back with distance and admits that the “chaos” probably saved his life.

What happened to Green Gadget Guru?

ChatGPT quickly laid out a plan: invest $10 in a domain, pay $5 per month for web hosting, and spend the remaining $85 on design and content. The next step was to launch an affiliate site for sustainable products, under the name Green Gadget Guru.

The site promoted eco-friendly items such as reusable metal straws, without the need to buy them in advance. With help from DALL·E 2, the user created a logo and graphics to package the idea.

Within days, the business caught fire on social media. By mid-March 2023, the user shared that the site had already generated $1,378.84 in revenue and reached an estimated valuation of $25,000 – even though it was still more a prototype than a functioning company.

The closure of Green Gadget Guru

The excitement didn’t last. Within months, investors began asking questions and demanding transparency over the money. Social media buzz faded, and eventually Green Gadget Guru shut down.

The creator announced he was leaving the project to focus on a Discord community. The site – which had started with little more than made-up text – was wiped from the internet.

A transformed life

In March 2025, two years after the experiment, the user spoke again on Twitter. He recalled how the initial post had gone viral with more than 25 million views and 100,000 new followers in a matter of days. “Until recently I thought it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Looking back, it may even have saved my life,” he wrote.

Behind the apparent business failure was a more personal story. The protagonist admitted he had battled addiction for years and was in a dark place. The sudden public exposure, though chaotic, forced him to reconsider his path.

Today he celebrates 530 days of sobriety and acknowledges he doesn’t know how much longer it might have taken to get here without that experiment that began with a simple challenge to AI.

The Green Gadget Guru saga shows how a digital experiment can become a viral phenomenon with unexpected consequences. What began as an attempt to flip $100 with the help of AI ended up marking a turning point. For its creator, the shuttered business was worth far less than the life he got back.

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