OpenAI’s $70 ChatGPT basketball is part of a bigger push

OpenAI is now selling a $70 ChatGPT basketball — a plain Size 7 rubber ball with no sensors, connectivity, or built-in tech. The product is part of “Pause. Play. Prompt.”, a campaign that frames creativity as something that can happen away from a screen, including between pickup games.

The oddity makes more sense in the context of Supply Co., OpenAI’s growing online store for clothing, collectibles, desk accessories, and limited-edition hardware. According to its homepage, the brand “documents the visual culture surrounding intelligent systems.” OpenAI says the effort began as an internal merch operation, after employees became attached to items including collectible cards, graphic hoodies, and blue folding chairs — objects the company later described as “material embodiments of company culture.”

The current lineup includes a $40 “Good Research” T-shirt, a $50 ChatGPT long-sleeve shirt, a $100 Codex hoodie, a $40 Blossom hat, $15 socks, a $45 embroidered tote featuring Bloop, a $25 Nalgene bottle, and a $175 Research Half Zip made from Portuguese cotton fleece. OpenAI has also previously sold more eccentric items including a rice cooker, dinner plates, a wooden checkerboard, a tape measure, earplugs, a hair claw, a Raspberry Pi kit, a soccer jersey, active shorts, flying discs, folding chairs, and an earlier Blossom-branded basketball.

Codex Micro desktop controller

The shop also includes something closer to a real computing accessory. Codex Micro is a $230 desktop controller built with Work Louder, a hardware company known for customizable mechanical keyboards and shortcut devices. OpenAI calls it a “command center for agentic work.”

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The controller is designed for users of Codex, OpenAI’s coding agent. Its lit-up Agent Keys show whether an agent is thinking, running, waiting, or finished, while a joystick can launch workflows such as reviewing pull requests, debugging errors, and refactoring code. Other controls let users accept or reject changes, start a new chat, record spoken instructions, and adjust how much reasoning Codex applies. It supports Bluetooth and USB-C, works with Mac and Windows, and was offered with clicky or silent mechanical switches before selling out.

OpenAI’s wider hardware ambitions

Mashable also points to a July 14 Bloomberg report saying OpenAI is developing a portable device that reportedly resembles a smart speaker without a screen. The device could answer questions, play media, respond to messages, and control smart-home devices using ChatGPT, with cameras and sensors helping it understand its surroundings.

OpenAI has invested heavily in that effort. In 2025, it acquired Jony Ive’s device startup io for about $6.5 billion, and LoveFrom is helping develop the product alongside OpenAI researchers, engineers, and former Apple employees. Those Apple connections are now part of a lawsuit: Apple alleges OpenAI used confidential information to accelerate its hardware work, while OpenAI says it has no interest in Apple’s trade secrets. The claims remain unproven, and the device still has no announced design, price, or release date.