OpenAI is applying the power of its frontier models to its long awaited hardware efforts.

On Wednesday, OpenAI published a blog post detailing an experiment in which the company used GPT-6 Astra to design a new device where users can talk to Codex. OpenAI explained that the model designed every component without direct human editing, including the functional requirements, enclosure, the electrical components and printed circuit board, the user interface, and software.

Two team members designed the test device with Astra as a side project in under a week, and a contract manufacturer built a small batch of prototypes in under a month. The lab notes that getting it ready for manufacturing still required rounds of review and interaction, as Astra did not account for details such as the manufacturer's production limits, but it is using the identified gaps to improve its frontier model.

OpenAI also claims its hardware and infrastructure teams use Codex and ChatGPT in many capacities, including technical tasks like creating and revising computer-aided design models, and creative ones, such as preparing manufacturing drawings spanning both robotics and infrastructure. And the results have started to show:

• Since February, model usage on OpenAI's hardware teams has grown 23-fold to 212 million tokens per employee per day.
• On BenchCAD 2.0, a 3D modeling benchmark, a newer internal model achieved an average score of 0.875, compared with 0.594 for GPT‑6 Astra at its highest reasoning setting.

The company is putting its engineering capabilities to the test by working with a small group of industry collaborators to evaluate them on real engineering problems. OpenAI announced an expanded collaboration with Chip Ganassi Racing and a new research collaboration with Mazda to explore how OpenAI models can help with new vehicle design. The lab also has a program for companies or individuals who want to participate in its physical engineering research efforts.

Our Deeper View

Typically, when people think about AI and hardware, they think of consumer devices being polluted by unnecessary AI features or bloatware. However, this paper highlights another possibility: AI can actually help accelerate the buildout of entirely new hardware. It is particularly interesting to hear how its own hardware teams are using it to build, as there haven't been many updates since the company originally announced it was collaborating with Apple's Jony Ive on a product, other than the Apple lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker's employees systematically defected with trade secrets during and after being hired by OpenAI. When OpenAI finally releases its device, it will be interesting to learn how much AI assisted the development. Ideally, incorporating AI models into the development process would help OpenAI push the envelope beyond what would have been possible without them. Ultimately, I don't think there's a better endorsement for AI models in engineering than OpenAI developing a truly cutting-edge device and then openly sharing how AI made that possible.