r/AboutAI

OpenAI just launched the Codex Micro — a $230 keypad built with Work Louder to control Codex AI coding agents, and it's OpenAI's first physical hardware ever. Here's the context the slides skip: this isn't the Jony Ive device. That's a separate, still-unreleased product — reportedly a portable, screenless smart speaker with mechanical parts that move on their own. It's being built partly by former Apple engineers, which is exactly why Apple sued OpenAI last week, accusing two current OpenAI employees of stealing trade secrets. OpenAI denies it. Meanwhile, the Micro pairs with OpenAI's newly merged "super app" — ChatGPT, Codex, and the productivity agent ChatGPT Work in one — and Work Louder says quantities are limited. So the timing reads less like a product launch and more like a statement: we're a hardware company now, lawsuit or not. Would you pay $230 to control AI with physical buttons — yes or no?