GPT-6 Astra designed OpenAI's Codex pet prototype - R&D World
By Google News AI ·
Two team members worked with Astra modelon the side project for less than a week, and a contract manufacturer built a small batch of prototypes in under a month. OpenAI says the team generated the designs without direct human edits with some rounds of review and iteration to prepare them for manufacturing. “Obviously, took a few rounds with the factory, but this is what came back,” Lin said in a video about the project.
Lin said he built the device to show Astra’s computer-use skills alongside “some of the new physical engineering capabilities.” The inspiration came in part from the growing trend of using voice to speak to agents while having some UI friction of its own. “I really, really don’t like having to like open my laptop and like whisper my sweet nothings into Codex,” he said. He wanted “a Codex pet” that lives on a small display, with a push-to-talk button.
Lin said it was his first time taking a board from bare to assembled, which he called “super daunting.” “I told Chat what I wanted, gave it some plans, and it designed the board,” he said.
The experiment sits within a broader hardware push that includes a design collaboration with former Apple design chief Jony Ive and his firm LoveFrom. For this prototype, OpenAI credits Astra with the design work and cites keyboard maker Work Louder, games and toys as visual references.
According to OpenAI, Astra defined the functional requirements, designed the case and the internal structures that hold the components, selected the electrical components, and placed and connected them on a printed circuit board sized to fit the enclosure. It also designed the user interface and generated the firmware and software integrations that connect the device to Codex. OpenAI labels the images “TamaGPT device experiments” and…
Originally published by Google News AI