Why do AI company logos look like buttholes? • VelvetShark<br>Toggle dark / light mode

If you pay attention to AI company branding, you'll notice a pattern:

Circular shape (often with a gradient)

Central opening or focal point

Radiating elements from the center

Soft, organic curves

Sound familiar? It should, because it's also an apt description of... well, you know.

A butthole.

The circular AI logo epidemic

If you ever thought that AI company logos look like buttholes, you're not alone.

FastCompany noticed this trend in 2023 and published an article about it, but (I could only presume) their editors and lawyers didn't let them title the article the way the wanted it to title, so it got published with a more safe for work title: The AI boom is creating a new logo trend: the swirling hexagon. They also were careful not to mention anything anatomical.

I don't have editors or lawyers, so let's take a closer look at some examples:

OpenAI's logo evolution

OpenAI's original logo was a simple, text-based mark. Then came the redesign: a perfect circle with a subtle gradient and central void.

OpenAI's official explanation is a masterclass in corporate euphemism:

"The Blossom logo is more than just a visual symbol; it represents the core philosophy that guides our approach to design and innovation. 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."

Sure, Sam.

Translation: "We made a circular shape with some angles because it looked nice, then wrote flowery language to justify why our butthole-adjacent design is actually profound."

The fluidity and warmth of human-centered thinking through the use of circles is perhaps the most elegant way anyone has ever described making a logo that resembles an anus.

The Big AI companies

Looking at the logos of the Big AI companies, you can see that they almost all of them have a circular or snowflake-like shape and a central opening.

Only DeepSeek and Midjourney don't follow the trend. Interestingly, both are sea-related.

Smoking gun: Anthropic's Claude

Up until this point, the logos have been subtle. You might say that the logos are simply circular and there's not much more to it.

But Anthropic's Claude takes it to the next level.

Here's a side-by-side comparison with a drawing from Kurt Vonnegut's book "Breakfast of Champions". I added Claude's logo below for easy comparison.

Both the drawing and the description in the book are unambiguous. This is not just "a circular shape with a gradient" anymore, is it?

It's not just AI companies

Even traditional companies aren't immune. Here are a few notable or funny examples. But the percentage of AI company logos that look like buttholes is still significantly higher than than any other industry.

I especially like the Electrolux one. It's simple, memorable, and once you see a butt and bikini, you can't unsee it.

Why does this keep happening?

There are several factors at play:

Circular design psychology

Circles represent wholeness, completion, and infinity—concepts that align with AI's promise. They're also friendly and non-threatening, qualities companies desperately want to project when selling potentially job-replacing technology.

Unintentional biomimicry

The human brain finds familiar patterns in random shapes (pareidolia), like a face on Mars, taken by the Viking 1 orbiter and released by NASA in 1976.

But sometimes, designers inadvertently recreate biological forms without realizing the... anatomical implications.

The copycat effect

Once a few major players adopted the circular sphincter aesthetic, everyone followed suit. Now we have an industry where standing out means looking exactly like everyone else's butthole.

Basically, the same reason why so many brands change their logos and look like everyone else.

Design by committee

Another factor is how these logos are created. Important corporate decisions involve many stakeholders. The result is often the safest, most inoffensive option, the average of everyone's opinions. In design meetings at AI companies, conversations probably sound like:

Can we make it more futuristic?

It needs to feel advanced but approachable.

Let's add a subtle gradient to convey intelligence.

No single person suggests making a logo that resembles an anus, but when everyone's feedback gets incorporated, that's what often emerges. Risk aversion in corporate environments naturally pushes designs toward familiar, "safe" territory, which apparently means anatomical openings.

What this says about tech branding

This phenomenon reveals something deeper about the tech industry: the fear of standing out too much. Despite claims of innovation and disruption, there's tremendous pressure to look legitimate by...