Subvolts take AI helps racing teams win by analyzing data and giving smaller teams a competitive edge. Jul 16, 2026 - Developers
- Learn how AI tools like Codex can be applied to solve complex problems in specialized industries like motorsports.
- Business
- Understand how AI can create competitive advantages for smaller companies and democratize access to advanced analytics.
This episode features a solid interview with researchers discussing practical AI applications and their impact on competition.
What racing reveals about working with AI - Episode 22
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From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
The OpenAI Podcast episode "What racing reveals about working with AI" features researcher Joyce Ruffell and RaceTek Systems co-founder Chase Holden. They discuss using AI to improve racing performance by analyzing track, garage, and driver data. The conversation explores how AI can help smaller teams compete and the role of human expertise in the sport.
This episode explains how artificial intelligence helps race car teams use lots of data to make cars faster and drivers better. It shows how even smaller teams can use AI to compete with bigger ones, keeping human experts in charge.
This episode offers insights into practical AI applications in a high-stakes, data-intensive field like professional racing. It's for anyone interested in how AI augments human capabilities and democratizes competition. The discussion connects to current frontier lab efforts in applying AI to diverse industries, demonstrating AI's potential beyond theoretical research. Listeners will learn how AI tools can provide an edge without replacing human skill, a relevant theme as AI adoption grows across sectors.
- HostAndrew Mayne
- GuestJoyce RuffellOpenAI researcher, OpenAI
- GuestChase HoldenRaceTek Systems co-founder, RaceTek Systems
- Episode Title: What racing reveals about working with AI - Episode 22
- Show: The OpenAI Podcast
- Length: 41 minutes
- AI Collaboration: OpenAI research collaboration with Chip Ganassi Racing
- Tools Used: ChatGPT and Codex
Racing is a sport of tiny margins and mountains of data. OpenAI researcher Joyce Ruffell and RaceTek Systems co-founder Chase Holden are each using AI to help teams make better use of information from the track, the garage, and the people behind the wheel. They discuss OpenAI’s research collaboration with Chip Ganassi Racing and how Chase used ChatGPT and Codex to go from hosting a NASCAR podcast to building a racing intelligence company. They also examine how AI could give smaller teams an edge without replacing the human expertise at the heart of racing, and why car culture runs so deep at OpenAI.
Chapters
00:43 Intro to OpenAI researcher Joyce Ruffell and Chip Ganassi Racing
02:43 Intro to Chase Holden and RaceTek Systems
07:45 Joyce’s path into racing
10:00 Helping racing teams work with AI
15:31 Combining human feedback with racing data
18:26 How AI helps smaller teams compete
21:43 Spreadsheets and the “data wars” in racing
27:03 Getting started with AI and Codex
30:08 How RaceTek won its first customer
33:01 Humans, robot racing, and the future of competition
39:26 Using AI beyond the racetrack
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Codex
- OpenAI researcher Joyce Ruffell
- An AI tool that helps programmers write code.
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Questions people ask
- How is AI used in racing?
- AI analyzes data from the track, garage, and drivers to help teams make better decisions and improve performance.
- Can AI help smaller racing teams?
- Yes, AI can provide smaller teams with an edge to compete more effectively against larger, more established teams.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to OpenAI.