Key facts
- OpenAI has been working with Chip Ganassi Racing to optimize car setups for IndyCar driver Alex Palou.
- Alex Palou secured eight pole positions in the 2026 IndyCar season.
- Palou won 6 of the 18 races in the 2026 IndyCar season.
- The partnership between OpenAI and Chip Ganassi Racing is featured in a YouTube documentary series.
OpenAI has been providing tangible benefits to Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) beyond financial sponsorship by assisting with car setups for IndyCar champion Alex Palou. This collaboration has contributed to Palou's dominant performance in the 2026 season, where he secured eight pole positions and won six of the 18 races, despite a more challenging year compared to previous seasons.
The partnership is the subject of a documentary series on YouTube, with the second episode recently released. While Palou's car wore OpenAI's colors for a race in Washington, D.C., where they qualified well but the race did not go as planned, the AI tools have demonstrably aided his performance throughout the season.
This is not the first instance of AI and machine learning tools proving valuable in motorsports. General Motors has previously used AI for predicting race cautions and analyzing crash data. Additionally, IBM and Dallara have published research on AI speeding up aerodynamic development, a practice also reportedly used by Formula 1 teams.