Why OpenAI is Selling Basketballs and What It Means for Your Bottom Line

By Brian Hanson · Published 2026-07-18 · Updated 2026-07-24 · 4 min read

A basketball sitting on a desk next to a laptop showing a chat interface.

Key takeaways

AI is becoming a commodity similar to electricity or internet bandwidth.
OpenAI's basketball sales signal a shift from tech innovation to mass-market branding.
Small businesses should focus on boring applications like email and data sorting.
Avoid shiny object syndrome by vetting tools based on immediate time savings.
The goal is to bolt AI onto existing workflows rather than creating a separate AI strategy.

The $160 Basketball Signal

OpenAI just started selling a $160 glow-in-the-dark basketball. According to TechCrunch, this move into physical merchandise is part of a push to turn a software brand into a household name. When the most sophisticated artificial intelligence company on the planet starts hawking sports equipment, it tells you something critical about where the tech is headed. The era of treating AI like a magic trick is over. It is officially becoming a commodity.

A commodity is just a basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other goods of the same type. Think of electricity or internet bandwidth. You don't care which power plant generated the volts hitting your toaster, you just want the bread brown. We're hitting that same point with AI. The hype is cooling off, and the physical products are a sign that even the creators know the software itself is becoming a standard utility.

Stop Buying the Miracle

I see business owners in their 40s and 50s getting paralyzed by the speed of these updates. They feel like they're falling behind because they don't have an AI strategy yet. Here's the truth: you don't need an AI strategy any more than you need an electricity strategy. You need a business strategy that uses the best tools available to save time and make money.

When you strip back the marketing, ChatGPT and its competitors are just new ways to process information. If you're still waiting for a miracle to happen, you're going to waste a lot of money on shiny objects. The real wins happen when you bolt these tools onto the boring parts of your business. That means the parts that involve repetitive typing, sorting through emails, or answering the same five questions from customers every day.

I've watched companies spend thousands on specialized consultants only to find out they could've solved their problem with a $20 monthly subscription and a clear set of instructions. Don't let the tech jargon intimidate you. If a tool doesn't immediately save you an hour of work or help you close a lead faster, it's just a glow-in-the-dark basketball. It looks cool, but it doesn't help you win the game.

Wire Up Your Business for Utility

If we treat AI as a utility, we look for leaks in our business pipes where time or money is dripping out. Most small businesses have plenty of these. You don't need to be a coder to fix them. You just need to know how to stack these tools together to handle the grunt work.

I want you to think about your business as a series of workflows. A workflow is just a fancy word for the steps you take to get a job done. For example, a customer calls, you take their info, you send an estimate, and then you follow up. AI can handle the middle two steps of that chain right now. It's about stripping back the administrative weight the human has to carry.

Three Actions to Take This Week

First, identify one task you do every single day that takes more than 30 minutes and involves a computer. This could be summarizing meeting notes, drafting replies to common inquiries, or organizing a spreadsheet. Try to do that exact task inside ChatGPT once. Don't overthink it. Just describe what you want like you're talking to a smart intern.

Second, stop looking for AI software and start looking for the AI features already inside the tools you pay for. Your email provider, your accounting software, and your document editor likely already have these tools built in. You're probably already paying for the utility; you just haven't flipped the switch yet.

Third, set a strict budget for new tech. It's easy to stack up $500 a month in small subscriptions that you never use. If a tool doesn't pay for itself in saved labor hours within the first 30 days, cancel it. We're looking for tools that work like a hammer, not a trophy.

What to Watch Next

Watch for more of these big AI companies to move into the physical world. As the software becomes more common, they'll try harder to stay relevant through branding and hardware. Ignore the noise. Focus on how the cost of processing information is dropping toward zero. Your job is to find ways to use that cheap info-processing to make your service better or your margins thicker. I'll be watching the next round of software updates to see which ones actually help you answer the phone faster. If you want to see how we wire these tools up live, my 3-day training covers the exact steps to get started without the fluff.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean for AI to be a commodity?

It means the technology is becoming a standard, interchangeable tool that is widely available, much like water or electricity, rather than a rare or specialized advantage.

Do I need to hire a developer to use AI in my business?

No, most AI tools today are designed for non-technical users. You can use them by giving instructions in plain English, similar to how you would talk to an employee.

How do I know if an AI tool is worth the money?

A tool is worth it if it saves you more in labor hours or generates more in revenue than it costs within the first 30 days of use.