I tried out OpenAI’s new AI keypad — which will be fun for some coders and slightly mystifying to everyone else

OpenAI launched its first piece of hardware last week: a nice little keyboard built to pair with ChatGPT. Developed in collaboration with specialist keyboard designer Work Louder, Micro is essentially an artisanal workplace novelty that many tech enthusiasts will love and might leave everyone else a little confused.

OpenAI’s entry into the hardware market has not been without drama. A few weeks ago, Apple sued the AI ​​lab, accusing it of trade theft, kicking off what’s sure to be a long-simmering legal battle. Meanwhile, news of another smart home product in development at OpenAI has also raised eyebrows, as the alleged device – which is being built to pair with ChatGPT – is reportedly developed by former Apple engineers.

Until the legal battle is resolved and OpenAI’s broader hardware ambitions come to fruition, Micro is the most the startup has going for it: a funky little keyboard clearly designed to please the tech industry’s code monkeys.

OpenAI sent TechCrunch a micro testing unit. The first thing you’ll notice when you initially use the keyboard is that it’s a sturdy little device – enough so that if the AI ​​accessory isn’t working, it can easily double as a paperweight. The other thing you might notice (and I’m not the only one pointing this out)is that the packaging – a pristine white box with a clean, sleek aesthetic – is quite Apple-coded. Make of that what you will.

The keyboard layout consists of six matte ‘agent’ keys at the top of the keyboard, which can be customized to perform specific tasks within ChatGPT or the agentic coding tool Codex. Below that are six command keys, which can be used to control these programs. You can pair your Micro with your computer via a Bluetooth connection or a USB cable.

Perhaps the most useful thing Micro offers is a voice dictation button. This means you simply tell the app what you want to do and it gets to work for you. Just hold down the dictation button and start talking. When you’re done, tap the ‘Submit’ button next to it to submit your request.

You can customize your Micro keyboard in ChatGPT itself, where a Micro tab lets you adjust everything from the brightness of the keys’ light to the specific commands and projects you want associated with those keys.

Hard-core programmers – the device’s true target group – haven’t exactly embraced it. Reviews by Redditors are largely negative, with one Reddit user calling it “a joke and not a real product,” and others say serious programmers won’t touch it. A review from smaller, independent outlet Aftermath was even louderwith the $230 price tag being difficult to justify next to cheaper DIY and ready-made alternatives. (The title of that review: “OpenAI’s expensive macro path feels designed to piss me off specifically.”)

It’s certainly true that new users will need some time to figure out how Micro works and what they can do with it.

Once I figured out how to program the keyboard to my liking, I found it was actually quite fun. You can assign different ChatGPT sessions to specific keys, making it easy to switch back and forth between all your different projects. When you combine that with the dictation button, the whole experience becomes a lot more efficient and fun.

But there is still a learning curve. Micro’s buttons are color-coded. White means an agent is idle, blue means it is thinking, green means a task has been completed, and red means an error has occurred. You need to remember that, along with remembering which specific projects are encoded for each key.

The big question is whether the Microkeyboard is functionally easier to use than simply continuing to work on your laptop. Basically, why would I spend a week learning to program and operate this thing when I already know how to use my computer’s mouse and keyboard?

Ultimately, your experience with the Micro will depend heavily on how much you use ChatGPT. Since I don’t use AI on a daily basis, I’m probably not the target audience for it.

That said, if you’re a ChatGPT power user, have $230 to spare, and like vintage-looking hardware with clicky buttons, Micro probably isn’t the worst purchase you can make; it may even brighten your day a little.