You may have heard that OpenAI released its first hardware this week: a $230 mini keyboard. You may not have heard that in addition to this “agent work command center”, OpenAI has also released ChatGPT basketball.
“This basketball is from the Pause. Play. Prompt. campaign, which aims to provide a physical reminder that creativity doesn’t just live on our screens,” the product listing explains. I couldn’t find any other mention of “Pause. Play. Hint.” campaign on the OpenAI website, but I understand this is OpenAI’s way of telling people not to spend all day on Codex.
Who says tech companies don’t think about our mental health?
Basketball will cost $70, or approximately 56 million input tokens for GPT-5. It is a 100% rubber ball that, due to its weather resistance, is better suited for outdoor play than the more pricey leather balls found on professional basketball courts. I’m glad to know that OpenAI sees a world where outdoor sports are possible, even as the boom in generative artificial intelligence accelerates greenhouse gas emissions from tech companies.
It’s difficult to imagine ChatGPT’s target basketball customer. Who is this for?
Step outside the safety of Silicon Valley filled with artificial intelligence and tokenmaxx, and you might worry that you’ll be intimidated for bringing a ChatGPT basketball court. You wouldn’t pay me $70 to get on the court in Philadelphia with this ChatGPT basketball. (If this were a free conference giveaway, it might be considered ironic – I really appreciate my “#FACEBOOK” bag, which is polished like A bar mitzvah party from the early 21st century.)
In defense of ChatGPT basketball, the AI industry isn’t exactly known for its product-market fit instinct. May Humane Ai Pin rest in peace.
In addition to this $70 artifact, OpenAI also sells a line of merchandise with inspiring reminders such as “Good research takes time,” which I think is the perfect outfit for a startup founder meeting with investors demanding faster growth. There is also a certain amount of $175 zipper it says “research” in italics. The product description states that it “has a statement collar that’s reminiscent of when we were at university,” which may turn off the “I never went to college because I’m a coding major” crowd. (Also, can the subject reminisce about your days in academia? Should I expect grammatically correct sentences from people writing emails using ChatGPT?)
However, there is nothing wrong with a bit of company prestige. If OpenAI wants to commission any ceramic artists to honor the company’s history through functional tableware, I’d like to throw my hat into the ring.