OpenAI says its AI designed hardware, teams up with Mazda

OpenAI said on November 3, 2026 that its GPT-6 Astra model designed a working hardware device for talking to its Codex coding agent in under a week. The company also announced a new research collaboration with Mazda and expanded work with Chip Ganassi Racing, according to an OpenAI research post. The announcement is OpenAI's clearest attempt yet to show its models working on physical engineering, though it also lists where the model fell short.openai.com

A device built with no direct human edits

OpenAI said it tested Astra's multimodal and computer-use skills by trying to build a device "without any direct human edits." GPT-6 set the functional requirements, and Astra designed the enclosure, chose the electrical components, laid out the printed circuit board, and wrote the firmware and Codex integrations, the company said. Two team members worked on it as a side project, and a contract manufacturer built a small batch of prototypes in under a month, The Decoder reported.the-decoder.com+1

The process still needed human help. Getting the device ready for manufacturing "still required several rounds of review and iteration," because Astra "did not consistently account for the manufacturer's production limits, tolerances, or details required for assembly," OpenAI wrote. Interesting Engineering noted that manufacturing still requires engineering oversight.openai.com+1

Internal usage and benchmarks

OpenAI said its hardware and infrastructure teams use Codex and ChatGPT for CAD models, manufacturing drawings, simulations and design reviews, and that their model usage, measured in tokens, has grown 23-fold since February, per the post. On BenchCAD 2.0, which tests whether models can rebuild 3D parts and identify connections on circuit boards, an unnamed newer internal model averaged 0.875, compared with 0.594 for GPT-6 Astra at its highest reasoning setting. OpenAI has not shared details about that internal model, The Decoder noted.openai.com+1

Mazda and Chip Ganassi Racing

Under the Mazda collaboration, OpenAI's research and Forward Deployed Engineering teams are working with the carmaker's aerodynamics and crash-safety engineers. They are using simulations of airflow and structural behavior to evaluate vehicle designs, and Astra models new nose shapes to reduce drag, OpenAI said. The company has not released any results yet and says it will share progress "in the coming months," Unite.AI reported.unite.ai+1

With Chip Ganassi Racing, OpenAI is testing ways to turn 3D scans of existing parts into editable CAD models and 2D manufacturing drawings, which helps when the original design files are missing, according to Interesting Engineering. OpenAI is also asking engineering firms and software vendors to apply as collaborators.interestingengineering.com

Mazda principal engineer Akihiro Nakata said exploring dozens of variations helps engineers understand "which features matter for aerodynamics and where designers have room to explore," adding that the work helps the company combine "Mazda's distinctive design and aerodynamic performance without treating either as a compromise".openai.com