OpenAI's AI designs real hardware

🔥 What happened OpenAI let GPT-6 Astra design a device end-to-end – enclosure, PCB, firmware – with no direct human edits. Two staffers built it as a side project in under a week; a contract manufacturer made prototypes in under a month. OpenAI also announced collaborations with Mazda and Chip Ganassi Racing. 💡 Why it matters Token usage across OpenAI's hardware teams has grown 23-fold since February. A newer internal model scores 0.875 on BenchCAD 2.0 versus 0.594 for GPT-6 Astra at max reasoning. AI is shifting from code assistant to mechanical engineer. ⚡ Our take Impressive, but the prototype still needed multiple review rounds because Astra ignored manufacturing tolerances. The real test isn't the first draft – it's production readiness, and the AI hasn't proven that yet.