Long after Steve Jobs’ turtleneck, there’s a new tech uniform

Unless you have a passionate opinion about your preferred artificial intelligence model, it’s likely the clothes that multi-billion dollar companies like OpenAI, Perplexity, Anthropic and Cohere are suddenly churning out aren’t meant for you. You likely aren’t going to be wearing Perplexity’s padded ecru jacket with a corduroy collar and a “Curious” fabric tag ($135) or Cohere’s “Stacking Stones” T-shirt ($41) with “The Material of Now” printed across the back. The same goes for OpenAI’s “Research” half-zip sweatshirt ($175), to say nothing of Palantir’s royal blue chore coat ($239). (Those are both sold out anyway.) 除非你对心仪的人工智能模型有着狂热的执念，否则像 OpenAI、Perplexity、Anthropic 和 Cohere 这些身价数十亿美元的公司突然推出的服饰，大概率不是为你准备的。你可能不会去穿 Perplexity 那件带有灯芯绒领子和“Curious”（好奇）布标的米色软垫夹克（135美元），也不会穿 Cohere 那件背后印有“The Material of Now”（当下的素材）字样的“Stacking Stones”（堆叠石块）T恤（41美元）。OpenAI 的“Research”（研究）半拉链卫衣（175美元）也是如此，更不用提 Palantir 那件宝蓝色的工作夹克（239美元）了。（反正这些都已经售罄了。）

Tech industry types have gone all in. “Unfortunately cool as hell and I need it lol,” Rachel Tobac, CEO of the cybersecurity firm SocialProof Security, wrote on X after seeing OpenAI’s newest collection in July. “Good to see that tech merch isn’t boring anymore,” wrote Haimantika Mitra, a developer advocate at the cloud computing company Digital Ocean. 科技圈的人士对此全盘接受。网络安全公司 SocialProof Security 的首席执行官 Rachel Tobac 在 7 月看到 OpenAI 的最新系列后在 X 上写道：“不幸的是，这些衣服酷毙了，我需要一件，哈哈。”云服务公司 Digital Ocean 的开发者倡导者 Haimantika Mitra 则写道：“很高兴看到科技周边不再那么乏味了。”

Ben King, a design director at OpenAI, said his team wanted to take cues from those boosters about exactly what they would be excited about in a piece of clothing. “We wanted to create cool, thoughtful items that reflect our product while also engaging with our own community and seeing what they’re wearing,” he said. Most of the clothing King saw on those people were the basic uniforms of the modern tech worker — T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats — so King, who has a background in designing streetwear, and his team set out to create the “best versions” possible. The merch was originally made for OpenAI employees to purchase on an internal site, but the team decided to make a small capsule collection available to the public. It sold out within days. OpenAI 的设计总监 Ben King 表示，他的团队希望从这些拥趸身上寻找灵感，看看他们到底会对什么样的服装感到兴奋。他说：“我们想创造出既酷又有深度的产品，既能反映我们的产品理念，又能与我们的社区互动，看看他们在穿什么。”King 在这些人身上看到的服装大多是现代科技工作者的基本款——T恤、卫衣、帽子。因此，拥有街头服饰设计背景的 King 和他的团队着手打造他们所能做出的“最佳版本”。这些周边最初是为 OpenAI 员工在内部网站上购买而制作的，但团队决定向公众推出一个小型胶囊系列。该系列在几天内就售罄了。

David-Alexandru Ilie, an intern at the tech company Vercel in London, bought two hats, a hoodie and a T-shirt for about $220 and, since he lives in the UK, paid more than $100 for shipping. He said the merch signals a certain level of affinity and expertise in the AI space. “When I’m wearing Codex-specific merch my goal is not to show that I’m a shill for OpenAI, but rather to show that I am a software engineer keeping up with current trends,” he said via email, referring to OpenAI’s code writing product. “Even though I’m not walking around Silicon Valley wearing this merch, I still like to feel like part of the software engineering community there.” 伦敦科技公司 Vercel 的实习生 David-Alexandru Ilie 花了约 220 美元购买了两顶帽子、一件连帽衫和一件 T 恤，由于他住在英国，还额外支付了超过 100 美元的运费。他表示，这些周边标志着在人工智能领域的一种认同感和专业水平。他在电子邮件中提到 OpenAI 的代码编写产品时说：“我穿 Codex 的周边并非为了展示我是 OpenAI 的走狗，而是为了表明我是一名紧跟当前趋势的软件工程师。虽然我不会穿着这些周边在硅谷走来走去，但我依然喜欢那种感觉，仿佛自己是那里软件工程社区的一员。”

Community or cartel? 是社区还是卡特尔？

Rory Bernier, who runs a tech advisory firm in Connecticut, said wearing a hoodie he was sent from the Perplexity team as a gift gave him an air of “proximity” to a favorite company. “Wearing it is a low-key signal, both to myself and to other people in the space, that I’m not just watching the AI wave, I’m in it,” he said via email. In that way, it’s similar to wearing a your sport’s team jersey or a band T-shirt. 在康涅狄格州经营一家科技咨询公司的 Rory Bernier 表示，穿上 Perplexity 团队作为礼物送给他的连帽衫，让他有一种与这家心仪公司“亲近”的感觉。他在邮件中说道：“穿上它是一个低调的信号，既是向自己，也是向该领域的其他人表明，我不仅仅是在旁观人工智能浪潮，我正身处其中。”从这个角度来看，这和穿运动队球衣或乐队 T 恤没什么两样。

For those outside the echo chamber of tech, though, responses to the merch have been less charitable. “[M]y catholic school uniform had more aura,” the photographer and writer Gavin Moulton posted on X. “I think that tech needs to reckon with the fact that if you zoom outside of our little bubble, the idea of wearing clothes with software logos makes you a really big nerd,” posted the designer J.D. Reeves. 然而，对于科技圈之外的人来说，对这些周边的反应就没那么客气了。摄影师兼作家 Gavin Moulton 在 X 上发文称：“我的天主教学校校服都比这有气场。”设计师 J.D. Reeves 则写道：“我认为科技圈需要正视一个事实：如果你跳出我们这个小圈子，穿印有软件 Logo 的衣服只会让你看起来像个大书呆子。”

Critics have called the design references passé. OpenAI’s lookbook for their capsule collection is an apparent homage to tastemaking brands like Kith and Aimé Leon Dore, two labels that turned laidback knitwear and box cut T-shirts into trends that saturated menswear in the last few years. “The aimé leon dore lookbook from 2023 does it again,” posted the brand strategist Lorenzo Lasagna. 批评者称这些设计参考已经过时。OpenAI 胶囊系列的型录显然是在向 Kith 和 Aimé Leon Dore 等引领潮流的品牌致敬，正是这两个品牌将休闲针织衫和方正剪裁 T 恤变成了过去几年席卷男装界的潮流。品牌策略师 Lorenzo Lasagna 发文称：“Aimé Leon Dore 2023 年的型录又被借鉴了。”

The debate may look like it’s about clothes, but is in fact part of a wider skirmish between people that stand to benefit from a world dominated by AI products and those threatened by it. Some of the loudest opposing voices are creatives, who see the products being created by AI companies as something threatening to their own practice and to the world at-large. “They’re wolves in sheep’s clothing attempting to create the feeling that a tech company with merch is harmless,” said the graphic designer David Rudnick. “It’s like wearing the colors of a cartel or a paramilitary organization.” 这场争论表面上是关于服装，实则是一个更广泛冲突的一部分，冲突双方分别是那些有望从人工智能主导的世界中获益的人，以及那些感到受威胁的人。一些最强烈的反对声音来自创意人士，他们认为 AI 公司创造的产品正在威胁他们的职业生涯乃至整个世界。平面设计师 David Rudnick 说：“他们披着羊皮的狼，试图营造出一种‘拥有周边的科技公司是无害的’错觉。这就像穿上卡特尔或准军事组织的制服一样。”

Naturally, those in the tech industry don’t see it that way. Rather than trying to appeal to everyone, designers creating this merch consider people like Ilie their target audience. One designer who worked on Perplexity’s merch but asked not to be named as they were not permitted to speak on behalf of the company said their work was similar to the ubiquitous and sometimes indiscernible billboards that line Highway 101, Silicon Valley’s commuter corridor in San Francisco. “Those billboards aren’t targeting everyday people,” the designer said. “They’re targeting their competition, they’re targeting potential employees.” 当然，科技圈内的人并不这么看。这些周边设计师并不打算取悦所有人，他们将像 Ilie 这样的人视为目标受众。一位曾参与 Perplexity 周边设计但要求匿名的人士表示，他们的工作类似于旧金山硅谷通勤通道 101 号公路上那些随处可见且有时令人难以察觉的广告牌。这位设计师说：“那些广告牌不是针对普通大众的，它们针对的是竞争对手和潜在的员工。”

Soft power 软实力

These products are meant to facilitate the evolution of AI giants into something softer. “More tech companies are going to evolve into lifestyle brands that will eventually become the end state,” said Joher Khan, the co-founder of Plumsoda, a design agency that, according to its website, creates merch that “turns tech companies into cultural icons.” 这些产品旨在推动 AI 巨头向更柔和的形象演变。Plumsoda 的联合创始人 Joher Khan 表示：“越来越多的科技公司将演变成生活方式品牌，这最终将成为它们的终极形态。”Plumsoda 是一家设计代理机构，据其官网介绍，他们致力于创造能“将科技公司转化为文化偶像”的周边产品。

Through a more skeptical lens, Rudnick also said it helps to camouflage some of the more controversial aspects of AI companies. OpenAI and Anthropic have both worked with the Pentagon, and Anthropic recently reached a $1.5 billion settlement over a claim that the company illegally used copyrighted material to train its large language model. Anthropic did not admit to any wrongdoing, and said that using copyrighted books to train AI models was covered under fair use laws. CNN is currently suing Perplexity alleging unlawful copying and distribution of CNN’s content. 以更怀疑的眼光来看，Rudnick 还指出，这有助于掩盖 AI 公司一些更具争议的方面。OpenAI 和 Anthropic 都曾与五角大楼合作，而 Anthropic 最近就一项指控达成了 15 亿美元的和解，该指控称该公司非法使用受版权保护的材料来训练其大语言模型。Anthropic 未承认任何不当行为，并称使用受版权保护的书籍来训练 AI 模型属于合理使用法律范畴。CNN 目前正在起诉 Perplexity，指控其非法复制和分发 CNN 的内容。

The merch trend suits a tech industry that has started to show more interest in cultural signifiers over the last few years. For a long time, the popular image of a Silicon Valley software engineer has been someone who eschews any interest in fashion because it signals that they care more about how they look than what they’re creating. Think about Steve Jobs and his black turtleneck. But now that the ability to write code has become somewhat democratized with AI tools, they’re looking for something else to differentiate themselves from the pack. “There was a philosophy of not burdening yourself with choice in order to optimize our time and our efficiency,” the Perplexity designer said. “I think that there’s a pendulum swinging the other way. Now that we’re all sort of using the same tools, opinions about cultural signifiers are the biggest lever.” 这种周边趋势迎合了过去几年开始对文化符号表现出更多兴趣的科技行业。长期以来，硅谷软件工程师的流行形象是那种对时尚避之不及的人，因为这传达出他们比起外表更在乎创造力。想想史蒂夫·乔布斯和他的黑色高领毛衣。但现在，随着 AI 工具让编程能力在某种程度上变得大众化，他们正在寻找其他东西来让自己脱颖而出。Perplexity 的设计师说：“过去有一种哲学，即不让自己被选择所困扰，以优化时间和效率。我认为现在钟摆正向另一个方向摆动。既然我们都在使用相同的工具，那么对文化符号的见解就成了最大的筹码。”

The problem is that AI’s outputs are derivative by nature, which makes it an open question whether or not the merch these companies are creating can only be a synthesis of references or actually point towards something novel or distinct. 问题在于，AI 的输出本质上是衍生性的，这使得这些公司创造的周边是否只能是各种参考的综合体，还是能真正指向某种新颖或独特的东西，成了一个悬而未决的问题。

“The clothing is just boring,” Jake Woolf, a menswear critic and writer, said. “I see the merch as the true spirit of what AI is in that it’s an amalgamation of different aesthetics smashed together to create something that is broadly appealing and inoffensive. But there’s no real point-of-view behind it.” 男装评论家兼作家 Jake Woolf 说：“这些衣服很无聊。我认为这些周边体现了 AI 的真正精神，即它是将不同的审美拼凑在一起，创造出一种广泛吸引人且无害的东西。但其背后并没有真正的观点。”

Andrew Chen, the co-founder of clothing brand 3sixteen, felt similarly. “The pieces are whatever. There’s nothing inherently offensive about any of these collections to me, except if you don’t really mess with AI,” he said. “The cut of the T-shirt is cool. The blue is nice. But I don’t think I’d rock a Codex T-shirt.” Chen said it was clear that the collection was more about brand marketing and positioning AI companies as something aspirational and cool. Even the limited production runs were intended to create a sense of, as Chen put it, “this stuff is for people who really, really like AI.” 服装品牌 3sixteen 的联合创始人 Andrew Chen 也持类似看法。他说：“这些单品也就那样。对我来说，这些系列本身没什么冒犯性，除非你本来就不喜欢 AI。T 恤的剪裁还行，颜色也不错，但我不会去穿一件 Codex 的 T 恤。”Chen 表示，显而易见，这些系列更多是为了品牌营销，将 AI 公司定位为一种令人向往的、酷炫的存在。即使是限量生产也是为了营造一种氛围，正如 Chen 所言：“这些东西是为那些真心非常喜欢 AI 的人准备的。”

King, of OpenAI, rejected the idea that because something is made by an AI company it lacks humanity. He said his team used AI tools during the initial sketching phase and while mocking certain things up, but that the design team is passionate about the humanity in their practice. “We love what we do. We take it seriously,” he said. “We’re always pushing ourselves to think more inventively and make sure the craft is done correctly.” OpenAI 的 King 反驳了“因为是 AI 公司制作的，所以缺乏人性”的观点。他说，他的团队在最初的草图阶段和模拟某些事物时确实使用了 AI 工具，但设计团队对实践中的人文精神充满热情。他说：“我们热爱我们的工作，并认真对待它。我们一直在推动自己进行更具创造性的思考，确保工艺精益求精。”

But there is a deeper question of why a modern tech company, especially an AI company, would need to soften their image with cotton and canvas. A recent Gallup poll found that more people think AI is bound to have a negative impact on society than a positive one. Young people in particular have soured on the technology over the last year, a development that may at least partially be explained by a pallid entry-level job market. Putting Palantir’s chore jacket aside for a moment — it seems more like a sartorial provocation given the company’s love of bombast and controversy; people wearing it seem to invite the minor shock of the logo — the ambition for companies like OpenAI and Perplexity to become beloved consumer brands like Apple or even Nike is practical and creating merch collections is part of that strategy. 但这里存在一个更深层次的问题：为什么现代科技公司，尤其是 AI 公司，需要用棉布和帆布来软化自己的形象？盖洛普近期的一项民调发现，认为 AI 对社会产生负面影响的人比认为产生正面影响的人更多。特别是年轻人，在过去一年中对该技术的看法转冷，这一现象至少部分可以归因于入门级就业市场的不景气。撇开 Palantir 的工作夹克不谈——考虑到该公司对浮夸和争议的偏爱，这看起来更像是一种服装上的挑衅；穿它的人似乎是在邀请那种 Logo 带来的轻微冲击——OpenAI 和 Perplexity 等公司渴望成为像苹果甚至耐克那样受人喜爱的消费品牌，这是务实的，而打造周边系列正是该战略的一部分。

Rudnick, the designer, doesn’t see it as such an innocent parallel. “The proposition is being put to the world where society and jobs are about to be swallowed by six or seven companies and that means your way of making a life will be eliminated by them,” he said. “Wearing the merch is a way that people feel like they’re protecting themselves, like they’re wearing the right colors of a feudal lord.” You have to want those colors in your closet in the first place, though, and it’s not clear that this merch is made for anyone but the true believers. 设计师 Rudnick 并不认为这是一个无辜的类比。他说：“社会和工作岗位即将被六七家公司吞噬，这意味着你的谋生方式将被它们剥夺，这就是现实。穿上这些周边是人们寻求心理保护的一种方式，就像穿上了封建领主的制服一样。”不过，你首先得想把这些颜色放进你的衣橱里，而且目前尚不清楚这些周边是否除了“死忠粉”之外还有其他人买账。