OpenAI officially enters the hardware market with Launch a The $230 illuminated keyboard is designed to pair with the AI-powered coding assistant, Codex.
Codex Micro, co-designed with dedicated keyboard designer Work Louder, is being announced as a great new way for ChatGPT users to manage their fleets of AI coding agents – semi-autonomous bots that can write and execute code with little human input.
The device comes with illuminated “Agent Keys” that display agent status, customizable command keys that serve as shortcuts to repetitive Codex actions, and a joystick to launch common workflows. It also has a dial that adjusts the amount of “heuristics” — basically, the amount of time and computing power — an agent uses on a given task (the agent’s level of reasoning).
The idea is that instead of managing your agents through your phone or desktop app, you can now use Micro as a “command center for agent work,” OpenAI says. It’ll probably also look great sitting at your desk. The device can be controlled and customized via the ChatGPT desktop application.
OpenAI told TechCrunch in an email that the Micro is a limited-run collaboration, suggesting it’s more of a novelty item than a product designed to appeal to the masses. It looks like a flashy trinket designed to announce the company’s entry into the hardware market.
The most important hardware news arrived on Tuesday. The yet-to-be-released OpenAI device, revealed by Bloomberg, appears to be designed for long-term use. It’s described as a portable, screenless smart speaker that integrates with ChatGPT and includes “mechanical elements that can move on their own.”
At this point, it’s hard to imagine how all these disparate details — the mobile and mobile parts without a screen — will come together into a cohesive product (OpenAI doesn’t say so). But it leaves an interesting picture, to say the least. It also seems that it is not over yet. The Bloomberg report highlights that the component is still under development and subject to change.
This new device is also said to have been designed by former engineers from Apple, the company that is currently suing OpenAI for commercial theft.
This connection did not go unnoticed, at least by Apple. Last week, Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company’s senior leadership of a deliberate strategy to extract its confidential information. It claims that OpenAI used that information to develop its own devices. OpenAI has denied any wrongdoing.
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