OpenAI launches $70 ChatGPT basketball alongside $230 keyboard, raising eyebrows

OpenAI has ventured into a merchandise lineup with the latest product releases: a $70 ChatGPT-branded basketball.

The ChatGPT maker has introduced a new campaign referred to as “Pause. Play. Prompt”, which aims at “a physical reminder that creativity doesn’t just live on our screens.”

Adding to the basketball, the company also introduced a $230 mini keyboard which is described as a “command centre for agentic work” and a $175 quarter-zip sweatshirt with the word “research” in cursive.

The basketball, which costs around the same as 56 million input tokens for GPT-5, has been made in rubber to be able to withstand the outside weather, and it stands out from the professional basketball due to leather balls being used there.

Moreover, there are also pieces of clothing with motivational phrases such as "Good research takes time" written on them, while the description for the quarter-zip states that it "reflects on our academic days."

While the basketball is introduced merely for marketing purposes, the keyboard signals the company's broader ambitions in consumer hardware. Bloomberg also reported the company is rumoured to be working on a screenless smart speaker, showcasing a more serious foray into physical devices.

For the time being, the basketball from OpenAI is not going to make waves in the market. However, it is important to mention that whenever there is some sort of announcement regarding OpenAI products, the related tokens tend to become volatile, regardless of their relation to cryptocurrencies.