Why is OpenAI selling a $70 ChatGPT basketball?



OpenAI now wants a place in your browser, on your desk, in your bedroom, and, for $70, on your local basketball court.

The company behind ChatGPT is sell branded basketballs through Supply Co.her expanding online store for limited-edition clothing, collectibles, tableware and hardware.

By itself, a product is an unusual piece of a technology company’s product line. In addition to the growing catalog of OpenAI, it is easy to understand that as part of the company’s efforts to create recognizable products around ChatGPT, Codexand its research culture.

The $70 ChatGPT basketball is part of the “Pause. Play. Quick.,” campaign that argues creativity doesn’t have to stay on a screen. OpenAI describes football as a reminder of the abandonment of technology and suggests that good ideas can arrive between takeover games.

But it’s also just basketball that works. The regular Size 7 ball is made entirely of rubber and has no artificial intelligence, sensors, internet connectivity or any other technology.

The question on many people’s minds – according to social media, at least – is: why is OpenAI selling this in the first place?

OpenAI is creating a lifestyle store

The answer starts with Supply Co., which, according to its homepage, “writes visual culture around intelligent systems.”

The brand started as a small product operation for OpenAI employees. According to the companyemployees were unusually enthusiastic about collectible cards, graphic hats, and blue folding chairs. OpenAI says those things eventually became the “cultural model of the company.”

The next phase of Supply Co. it’s defined as a combination of “collaboration, experimentation, and real-world demonstrations of research energy,” broad language that leaves room for more than shirts with corporate logos. Online reaction to the product line has been mixed.

Current store includes a $40 “Best Research” t-shirt, a $50 ChatGPT long sleeve shirt, a $100 Codex hat, a $40 Blossom hat and matching socks for $15. Customers can also purchase a $45 tote decorated with Bloop, one of OpenAI’s cartoon characters, and a $25 Nalgene bottle covered in pixelated graphics.

For anyone hoping to dress like a well-funded graduate student, there’s a $175 Half Zip Study. The Portuguese cotton sweater has the word “research” emblazoned across its chest and a crisp collar that OpenAI says “recalls our academic days.” It lands somewhere between college wear and a startup office uniform.

The current selection is relatively limited compared to his memory. OpenAI has previously produced a rice cooker, dinner plates, a wooden checkerboard, a tape measure, earplugs, hair clips, Raspberry Pi kits, a soccer jersey, active shorts, flying discs, folding chairs, and an original basketball with its Blossom design.

Codex gets its physical controller

Elsewhere in the same store, OpenAI sells a device that integrates with its own software.

Codex Micro is a $230 desktop controller designed for Work Louder, a boutique hardware company known for its mechanical keyboards and customizable keyboard shortcuts. OpenAI defines it as “a command center for agent work.”

The controller is designed for people who use Codex, OpenAI’s coding agent, to manage multiple tasks at the same time. Its highlighted Agent keys show whether the agent is thinking, running, waiting, or finished, while the joystick launches common functions such as checking pull requests, debugging errors, and refactoring code.

Other controls allow users to accept or reject changes, start new chats, record spoken commands, and adjust the amount of Codex arguments used for a given task. The device connects via Bluetooth or USB-C, works with Mac and Windows computers, and was offered with mechanical click or silent switches before sale.

Codex Micro is unlikely to become a mainstream consumer product. It’s aimed at people who already use AI agents widely enough to benefit from dedicated physical controls.

Still, it provides a more concrete example of how OpenAI wants its software to expand beyond software.

OpenAI also wants to bring ChatGPT home

According to a July 14 Bloomberg reportOpenAI is also developing a portable device that reportedly looks like a smart speaker but has no screen. It can answer questions, play content, reply to messages and control smart home devices using ChatGPT.

Cameras and sensors can help it understand what’s going on around the user, rather than relying solely on spoken commands. That would make it similar to Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod, but with more awareness of its surroundings.

OpenAI has spent a lot of money on the project. In 2025, it is found Jony Ive’s device startup, that is, for about $6.5 billion, and Ive’s design studio, LoveFrom, is helping build the product with OpenAI researchers, engineers, and former Apple employees.

Those Apple ties are now part of the lawsuit. Apple claims OpenAI used confidential information to accelerate its hardware plans, while OpenAI says it has no interest in Apple’s trade secrets. The claims are unconfirmed, and the device does not yet have an announced model, price or release date.

What is clear is that although the company may still live mostly on the screen, its products are starting to appear almost everywhere.





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