Astra working with Blender via computer use feels like magic, showing computer use could be the fourth demand wave after chatbots, reasoning, and agentic coding
AI computer tool use is a big deal. — A reminder that I'm on vacation this week, but the flood of impressions people …
Key ContextTae Kim
Context & Ripple Effects
Astra’s Blender demonstration extends its earlier computer-use tests, in which OpenAI said the model handled tasks such as booking DMV appointments and searching job listings. It moves the capability from web-task completion into a demanding visual-creation workflow.
The creative stakes predate Astra: artists have been adopting image-generation tools while expressing concern about their livelihoods, and coverage of Hollywood has framed AI as a tool rather than a replacement. Blender makes that debate tangible because the model is operating the same production software rather than merely generating an asset.
First-order effects
Blender users gain a new way to turn instructions into scene-building and rendering work, shifting the user’s role toward directing and reviewing the software workflow.
OpenAI gains a highly visual proof point for Astra’s computer-use capability, beyond the form-filling and search tasks highlighted in its earlier tests.
Second-order effects
3D-creation toolmakers face pressure to make their interfaces, documentation, and automation hooks easier for computer-use models to operate reliably.
Open-source creative tools such as Blender may benefit from their extensive public learning material; that is the advantage commentators identified in reactions to the demo, not a settled technical outcome.
Third-order effects
If dependable computer use spreads across desktop applications, AI competition shifts from answering prompts to executing multi-step work inside established software environments.
Creative AI adoption may increasingly be judged by controllability and reviewability inside workflows, reinforcing the earlier view that AI is a production tool rather than a wholesale substitute for creators.
The trend: Computer-use models are turning AI from a conversational interface into an agentic work surface that can carry out tasks within the software people already use.
seeing the Astra + Blender work makes me think open source tools will have a strong advantage in the AGI era given how much A) online content exists around them and the models learn from that. B) they tend to be more programmer friendly / hackable than closed tools.
I don't think this was the goal, but the fact that Astra is incredibly good at visually pleasing 3D work (blender, etc.) gives it a perception edge over Fable in the war for social media attention. It is harder to judge other kinds of outputs, but the visual stuff comes through.
Astra is very good at 3D modeling, and I can't wait for all of you to experience it, for now here is a little walkthrough on how I built the demo house for our launch blog post. From a Blender scene to a Unreal Engine 5 walkable experience. 🧵
New TIL on using Blender with coding agents on macOS: https://til.simonwillison.net/ ... GPT-6 Astra (medium): > Use the already install /Applications/Blender to render a scene of a pelican riding a bicycle > OK add a background and a lot of flair > OK make it a whole lot better
So how good really is GPT-6 Astra at 3D modeling? I took an old drawing of a steam train, gave it to Astra to reconstruct it in Blender. After few minutes it crafted 3,295 fully editable detailed objects with beautiful geometry. You can obviously tell it how detailed or simplifie…
I tried to teach myself 3d modeling with Blender and Maya many years ago and quickly gave up with the amount of effort involved. Stunning to see the GPT-Astra created Blender scenes purely from images.
I had early access to GPT-6 Astra and it's maybe the most insane model I've experienced In Blender, I had it recreate Apple Park from just images. It did an absurd job.
I asked Astra to recreate @LewisHamilton's Ferrari! It went through F1 specs, regulations, videos from F1 engineers and photos of the car, then built a 3D model (w/ blender) with a full breakdown of the parts. It even made clay & wireframe versions too. Every time I think I've pu…
Astra is, obviously, very good at blender. But most of the scenes it produces are static. We gave it the Cartwheel MCP and now Astra can animate stuff in blender!!! 🤸🤸🤸
GPT-6 Astra recreated the Palace of Fine arts in Blender. This is favorite building in San Francisco because it was built for the World's Fair in 1914 where the steam locomotive and telephone were showed off. It was a time when technology gave us all a deep sense of optimism fo…
GPT-6 Astra helped me build something I wish I'd had as a kid... so badly. Input just an image (or an idea in a few words) and get a fully buildable LEGO set... 100% customized to your prompt or image, using official @LEGO_Group parts you can order online! Structurally optimized …
GPT-6 Astra vs Fable 5.1 on a Porsche 911 GT3 RS build in Blender. Every comparison I've seen between GPT-6 Astra and Claude Fable 5.1 has GPT-6 Astra coming out on top. OpenAI really did Anthropic dirty by dropping Astra just days after Fable 5.1. The quality is better, the resu…
whoever thought about training astra on blender use is a marketing genius let's face it, it's completely unnecessary for 99.999% of the population but it's way more visually impressive than benchmarks and coding agents a picture worth a thousand words
holy crap, @ChatGPT Astra Ultra fucking nailed it. @nTopology implicits rendered in @Blender . Raytraced, with Alumina material. from @lightcellenergy hyperdome early prototype “midnight sun” by @DrSteveCrane [video]
I don't think we're done with Astra and 3D modeling at all. Just asked for good lighting and materials and to use Blender Cycles to render a cinematic shot. Yes, the second one is Claude Monet's garden in Giverny, France.
You know what's funny? As a Blender artist this entire time I was like, no, my skills and talent are irreplaceable by a machine. Yet here I am watching a machine create an entire scene I would take days to weeks to make in a single fucking prompt. This is a sick joke, seriously f…
Another neat one: I had GPT-6 Astra build a model of a famous never-built building, Boullée's 1784 Centotaph. There were only a few black and white sketches to work with, along with a description. It built a full Blender model & directed a dramatic narrated walkthrough of it.
Astra is so good it's sometimes unbelievable. My entire For You page is full of examples that leave me speechless. Like this one: Astra + Blender = insanity.
GPT 6 Astra is INSANE. It built the backrooms in blender and then added VHS effects etc. Took 30 minutes to make it and another 20 to export. This isn't AI generated video it's all in blender. It did the sound effects too. aprox 5 prompts.
The computer use capabilities of Astra are so far beyond anything else out there it's pretty unbelievable I've had it create projects, setup clips, do full color grades, and first passes on videos flawlessly in Final Cut Pro (just clicking stuff how I would) Make actually clean e…
It's clear that Astra was heavily finetuned on Blender / 3D data and game dev stuff. Shows us how powerful finetuning is! It also shows us that it's super easy to get to 80%/90%. Shouldn't be surprising, it's the same for pretty much everything where AI is involved. Definitely is…