OpenAI is now claiming a place in your browser, on your desk, in your closet, and, for $70, on your local basketball court.
The company behind ChatGPT sells branded basketballs through Supply Co., its growing online store for apparel, collectibles, desk accessories, and limited hardware.
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In itself, the product is an unusual piece of tech-company merchandise. Alongside OpenAI’s growing catalog, it’s easy to understand as part of the company’s effort to build virtual reality products alongside ChatGPT, Codex, and its research culture.
ChatGPT’s $70 basketball is part of “Pause. Play. Fast,” a campaign that argues that art shouldn’t stay on a screen. OpenAI describes football as a reminder to move away from technology and suggests that great ideas can come between downloadable games.
But it’s also just basketball that works. The standard size 7 ball is made entirely of rubber and does not contain artificial intelligence, sensors, internet connection, or any other technology.
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The question on many people’s minds – in terms of social media, at least – is: why is OpenAI selling this in the first place?
OpenAI is building a lifestyle store
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The answer starts with Supply Co., which, according to its home page, “writes the visual culture around intelligent systems.”
The product started as a small marketing project for OpenAI employees. According to the company, employees became unusually enthusiastic about trading cards, graphic hoodies, and green folding chairs. OpenAI says those things eventually became “tangible elements of the company’s culture.”
The next phase of Supply Co. is described as a mix of “collaboration, exploration, and the physical expression of research power,” broad language that leaves room for more than company logo shirts. Online reaction to the product line has been mixed.
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The current store includes a $40 “Good Research” t-shirt, a $50 ChatGPT long sleeve shirt, a $100 Codex hoodie, a $40 Blossom hat, and matching socks for $15. Customers can also purchase a $45 embroidered tote featuring Bloop, one of OpenAI’s animated characters, and a $25 Nalgene bottle covered in pixeated images.
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For anyone hoping to dress like a well-paid graduate student, there’s a $175 Research Half Zip. The Portuguese cotton wool sweater has the word “research” emblazoned across its chest and a crisp collar that OpenAI says “reminds us of our academic days.” It sits somewhere between university clothes and the first office uniform.
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The current selection is limited compared to your archive. OpenAI has previously produced a rice cooker, dinner plates, a wooden checkerboard, measuring tape, earplugs, a hairpin, a Raspberry Pi kit, a soccer jersey, active shorts, flying discs, folding chairs, and a front basketball with its Blossom design.
Codex gets its own physical controller
Elsewhere in the same store, OpenAI sells a device that connects to its original software.
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The Codex Micro is a $230 desktop controller made by Work Louder, a boutique hardware company known for custom keyboards and peripherals. OpenAI describes it as “a command center for agent work.”
The controller is designed for people using Codex, OpenAI’s code agent, to manage several tasks at once. Its illuminated Agent Keys indicate whether the agent is thinking, running, waiting, or complete, while the joystick activates common workflows such as reviewing pull requests, debugging errors, and refactoring code.
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Other controls allow users to accept or reject changes, start a new conversation, record spoken instructions, and adjust the amount of Codex logic active in the task. The device connects via Bluetooth or USB-C, works with Mac and Windows computers, and was offered with a one-click or silent switch before selling.
Codex Micro is unlikely to become a mainstream consumer product. It’s aimed at people who already use AI agents extensively enough to benefit from dedicated physical controls.
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Still, it provides a concrete example of how OpenAI wants its software to extend beyond an application.
OpenAI also wants to bring ChatGPT home
According to July 14 Bloomberg reports, OpenAI is also developing a portable device that reportedly looks like a smart speaker but doesn’t have a screen. It can answer questions, play media, reply to messages, and control smart home devices using ChatGPT.
Cameras and sensors can help it understand what’s happening 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.
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OpenAI has invested heavily in the project. In 2025, it acquired Jony Ive’s device startup, io, for an estimated $6.5 billion, and Ive’s design studio, LoveFrom, is helping to build the product alongside OpenAI researchers, engineers, and former Apple employees.
Those Apple obligations are now part of the lawsuit. Apple says OpenAI used confidential information to speed up its hardware programs, while OpenAI says it doesn’t care about Apple’s trade secrets. The allegations have yet to be proven, and the device has yet to have an announced design, price, or release date.
What is clear is that although the company still lives mostly on screens, its products are starting to be seen almost everywhere.
