OpenAI’s newest creation is raising shock, alarm, and horror among staffers: a new logo
A black ring can represent many things – simplicity, a new phase, a void. Whatever its meaning, OpenAI employees would prefer it didn’t represent the company they work for.
In a recent company-wide meeting, staffers of OpenAI got a sneak peak at recent efforts to redesign the typefaces and logo for the company behind ChatGPT and the ongoing tech industry craze for all things generative AI, two people familiar with the company told Fortune. The new logo presented was a simple, large black “O,” easily interpreted as a ring or a zero, as one of the sources described it. Many members of staff were taken aback by the design, which struck some as ominous and lacking in creativity. A few openly voiced their dislike for it during the meeting.
The proposed new logo is an aesthetic shift from the company’s current hexagonal flower symbol, originally conceived by designer Ben Barry as one evoking “precision, potential and optimism.” Given the staff’s strong response and some internal attachment to the current logo, which adorns OpenAI’s website and corporate swag such as the t-shirts and stickers beloved by employees, one of the people familiar with matter speculated that the design of the new logo could change again.
