[Proposal] Developer integration: OpenAI API client for the Commodore 64 Ultimate

API
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I’d love to propose something that is equal parts technically feasible, nostalgic as hell, and extremely PR-friendly:

An official ChatGPT client for the new Commodore 64 Ultimate.

I’m sure that everyone here knows that Commodore is back in production. The Commodore 64 Ultimate is being assembled now. The hardware specs show that the C64U is perfectly capable of acting as a thin client to the ChatGPT API.

What I’m imagining

An official or semi-official “Commodore ChatGPT” client that:

  • Runs in classic C64 text mode (blue screen, PETSCII borders, the whole vibe).

  • Talks to the ChatGPT API via HTTPS over the C64U’s networking stack (or, failing that, through a small helper daemon on a local machine).

  • Presents ChatGPT as a retro terminal assistant, with:

    • PETSCII-styled conversation UI

    • Optional “typing” animation that mimics the old 300-baud terminal feel. Most people wouldn’t leave it on long, but, nostalgia!

    • Simple controls (F-keys or function keys to switch modes, clear screen, save/load conversations, etc.)

  • Could ship as a downloadable .D64 / image for the C64U’s built-in file browser or an officially blessed open-source project the community installs themselves.

Why this is worth OpenAI’s time

Instant viral “future in the past” moment.
Every tech outlet on earth will run: “ChatGPT is now running on a Commodore 64” (writers can simplify the client-to-API technicalities). That makes an accessible, visual story that gets huge reach: retro hardware + frontier AI. Half the nerds in existence have fond memories of their C-64s.

Cross-generational & educational.
Commodore is marketing the C64U as something you can play with, learn on, and code on — complete with retro spiral-bound manual and BASIC coding adventures. Add a ChatGPT client and you’ve got a:

  • “Back to basics” coding demo for kids & retro-curious adults.

  • Teaching tool about networking, protocols, and thin clients.

  • Showcase that modern AI doesn’t replace tinkering culture, it amplifies it.

Tiny engineering footprint, big halo.
No need to port any models; you only need a small, well-documented text client, written in C or anything the C64U’s firmware layer supports, that (1) handles a minimal authentication/secret flow, (2) opens a TCP connection, sends HTTPS requests (or hands off TLS to the helper), and parses JSON responses; and, (3) renders text in a PETSCII-aware UI with a scrollback buffer and some light polish.

Most of the “magic” is just elegant design & constraints: fitting prompts and responses into 40-column text, making paging/navigation pleasant, and embracing the era’s charm.

Perfect “OpenAI loves hackers” signal.
A C64U ChatGPT API client would resonate with the exact crowd that built the modern dev ecosystem: tinkerers who still care about 80s/90s hardware. It sends the message, “OpenAI values playful platforms and weird integrations, not just slick mobile apps.”

If you’re interested

I’m a pre-order customer for the C64U Founders Edition and would be thrilled to help test, provide feedback on UX that feels authentically “80s” and coordinate with the growing C64U community that’s hungry for projects like this.

Even if this starts as a small internal hackathon project or a sponsored community effort, it has the potential to become an iconic “this is what AI can be” demo — both nostalgic and forward-looking.

Thanks for considering it.

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I’ve considered it. Nope.

Your “client” is going to be a serial terminal to a BBS.

To even make a network connection, you’ll need a root certificate authority, download this 277kB onto the 38k free of a C64.

Then write elliptic curve crypto for a C64. Reminder: 8 bit CPU.

Then compression like gzip?