OpenAI says its AI designed a working gadget in under a week

OpenAI says its AI model GPT-6 Astra designed a physical device in under a week. The gadget lets people talk to Codex, OpenAI's coding assistant. The company's hardware team reportedly built it as a side project.

According to OpenAI, the model handled every step. That includes the enclosure, the circuit board layout (picking parts and routing the wiring paths), the firmware (the software built into the device) and the user interface.

Where it fell short

A contract manufacturer made a small batch of prototypes in under a month. Several redesign rounds were needed first. Astra did not always account for manufacturing limits, tolerances (how much a part's size can vary) and assembly details. In short, the AI drew a device that looked right on screen but did not always work in a factory.

What else OpenAI said

OpenAI is also pointing to a newer internal model. It scores 0.875 on a test called BenchCAD 2.0, while GPT-6 Astra at its highest reasoning level scores 0.594. The test checks whether AI can rebuild 3D parts and assemblies and identify connections on circuit boards. OpenAI has shared no details about the internal model.

The company says its hardware teams use Codex and ChatGPT for 3D models, manufacturing drawings and simulations in areas like robotics and computing equipment. Usage, measured in tokens (small chunks of text the AI processes), is up 23 times since February. OpenAI is also reportedly building its own device, something between an AI speaker and a smartphone.