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Arthur T Knackerbracket [soylentnews.org] writes:

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story [newscientist.com]:

Feedback notes the proliferation of AI company logos, and agrees with one blogger's claim that many bear a striking resemblance to a certain anatomical feature

The past few years have seen the emergence of a great many AI companies. This is extremely exciting/alarming (delete according to whether you bought shares early), but it has also had a secondary consequence. Along with the proliferation of AI companies has come a proliferation of AI company logos.

The fascinating thing, highlighted by several publications, is that many of these logos look near-identical. According to sociologist James I. Bowie, writing [fastcompany.com] for Fast Company in 2023, the trend is for a “stylized hexagon” with an implied rotation. This, he notes, is equally suggestive of “portals opening to wondrous new worlds”, “widening Yeatsian gyres” and “toilets flushing”.

Or we could look at it the way Radek Sienkiewicz, a developer [velvetshark.com] who blogs as VelvetShark, does. Sienkiewicz noted that most of these logos have the following elements: a circular shape, a central opening or focal point, radiating elements from the centre and soft organic curves. This, he says, is an “apt description” of “a butthole [velvetshark.com]“.

Feedback examined the logos of OpenAI, Apple Intelligence, Claude and others, and we can confirm that, yes, they do bear more than a passing resemblance to a sphincter, and once you see it you can’t unsee it. DeepSeek and Midjourney are about the only exceptions: their logos look like a whale and a sailboat on the sea. But maybe they will soon get sucked into the circular logo maelstrom.

Why so many stylised hexagons? Perhaps the whirling patterns are meant to symbolise the recursive nature of thought, the ability of AIs to iteratively improve their understanding of the world.

Not according to OpenAI, though. Its brand guidelines offer a detailed explanation for the company’s logo [openai.com], which it calls “blossom” to make you think it isn’t a butthole. “At its heart, the logo captures the dynamic intersection between humanity and technology – two forces that shape our world and inspire our work. The design embodies the fluidity and warmth of human-centered thinking through the use of circles, while right angles introduce the precision and structure that technology demands.” Readers are free to make of that what they will.

Personally, Feedback has a working hypothesis about these logos. It involves the psychological phenomenon known as “groupthink”.

Original Submission