OpenAI Partnership Gives Chip Ganassi Racing a New Tool in Pursuit of Speed

WASHINGTON -- Joyce Ruffell, a researcher at OpenAI, was a race fan who found herself touring IndyCar shops in Indianapolis as part of an immersive experience with the Women in Motorsports North America convention.  

While at Chip Ganassi Racing, Ruffell made some connections inside the shop that opened talks on a potential partnership between the two companies. Once both sides determined the fit, OpenAI signed on as a partner with all three CGR cars and this year expanded the partnership to multiple primary sponsorships of the No. 10 Honda, driven by multi-time champion Alex Palou.

“I think we were very open-minded, looking back at two years go,” Ruffell said. “This was before anyone was really looking into the space with an eye to AI. So we were very bright-eyed with a lot of ideas on how we can work together.” 

Now in its second season with CGR, the artificial intelligence research organization and technology company that developed advanced generative AI systems like ChatGPT and the GPT large language model series, is working every week to determine how the team can best utilize its services.  

“At OpenAI we value creativity, innovation and moving fast,” Ruffell said. "I think all that fits clearly with IndyCar. It’s about doing more with less – less time, less space. It’s about being on a mission, that’s what OpenAI is all about. We believe that AI is all about accentuating expertise and we’re certainly not short of expertise at CGR with our partners within this team.  

“We’re here to help people who are already the best to do their jobs even better.” 

One of the challenges for OpenAI is showcasing just how much it can offer a motorsports program. The company is tackling it with a documentary short series in which OpenAI and CGR teamed with Box-To-Box Films (the creators of "Formula 1: Drive to Survive”) to create “R&D.” The series highlights how Chip Ganassi Racing, Palou and the No. 10 team use AI to optimize performance. 

OpenAI and Box-to-Box spent the past week in Indianapolis shooting for episode two before accompanying CGR to the Freedom 250 in Washington, D.C., for more filming.  

“I think we’re trying to share our story. I mean, on our research side, we are trying. We’re just individuals pushing our hardest, every day,” Ruffell said. “We see kindred spirits at CGR who show up every weekend, and they are just killing it. We want to share that with the world.  

“From the research side, we spend all day chasing just numbers. In the research world, better metrics are lower numbers, just like in racing. Our every day is just chasing that and that 0.1 increment. On the research side, we get it, and they understand why racing just makes it a showcase for what we’re doing and hopefully CGR thinks the same way.  

Team owner Chip Ganassi said he planned to really lean into OpenAI over the offseason and push his organization to utilize the AI capabilities to the maximum. 

“Every week is like drinking from a firehose with OpenAI. It’s very interesting,” Ganassi said. “On one level, I’m reading about them every day in the news, trying to learn what I can. At the same time, I’m trying to learn how to be most effective as a user of it myself and pass that along to the team. It’s one of the things in the offseason I want to work on is getting better at using the technology.  

“A lot of times during the season we're burdened with going to the next race next weekend, and so we don't have time to maybe participate with some of the tools that are available to us during the season,” Ganassi continued. “There aren't many tools in this world that everybody, every single person in your company, can use, and every single person in your company can benefit from. ChatGPT is just that. Having OpenAI as a partner is certainly a feather in our cap and I'm excited to do more with them.” 

One of the rollouts at the Freedom 250 was an OpenAI-produced limited-edition CGR merchandise line that includes a $5 air freshener, a $10 three-pack of collector pins, a $10 bumper sticker pack, $15 IXO America die cast and $75 crew shirt. 

Palou handed out several of the items for free in Washington on Saturday during the driver autograph session. The air freshener wasn’t designed to smell like sweat, success, winning, or dried Indianapolis 500 milk – all the scents Palou has achieved in his march through IndyCar’s record books – but are nonetheless a hit with fans eager to collect memorabilia that falls outside the norm of keychains and koozies.  

“We really felt like the best way to connect with the audience, not just our audience, but the CGR audience, is to give them something, perhaps something that they can take home with them at the track,” Ruffell said. “They go, ‘Yeah this is an incredible day,’ and they're left being like, ‘Well, you know, how do I talk to my friends about what I experienced?’ And these are just, you know, little things to show their friends. We love our pins and our stickers in in the tech world and the air refreshener? You won’t be upset with your purchase.”