An AI business named and branded by a Belfast-based creative studio has been acquired by OpenAI this week as part of a $4bn investment.
Pale Blue Dot, the Northern Ireland creative studio that has worked with brands including Guy Ritchie's Cashmere Caveman Co., Gareth Southgate, Rio Ferdinand, Emirates Airlines, Titanic and OakNorth Bank, played a key role in the creation of Tomoro.ai, an Edinburgh-based applied AI consulting firm that has been announced this week as the founding acquisition of OpenAI's new $4bn Deployment Company.
The acquisition of Tomoro AI will see about 150 experienced deployment engineers and specialists into the new OpenAI Deployment Company as part of a $4bn investment.
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Pale Blue Dot worked with the Tomoro founding team from day one, leading on naming, brand identity, positioning, messaging, video production and website.
The name was a central part of the brief. “Everyone’s future begins with tomorrow. We all want a
better one, and AI is part of how we get there,” said Jaime Steele, co-founder of Pale Blue Dot. “We
needed something simple to say, easy to remember and distinctive enough for the team to own.
Tomoro did all three, and we were able to secure the tomoro.ai URL. A name built to carry the business from an early pitch through to a moment like this.”
Tomoro positioned itself from launch as an applied AI consulting firm focused on deployment rooted in how people actually think and work. That point of view placed it at a clear distance from the wider AI consulting market.
“Tomoro was building something different from the start,” Steele added. “We are proud to have played a part in helping them look and sound the part early on. The acquisition by OpenAI is a real moment not only for Tomoro, but for the entire Pale Blue Dot team here in Belfast.”
Pale Blue Dot is based in Northern Ireland and employs 18 full-time staff alongside a wider network of strategists, writers and developers. The studio works across brand identity, web and ecommerce, and film, with clients across the UK and Ireland and London as a primary market.
Pale Blue Dot’s work with Tomoro is the latest campaign that consolidates the Belfast agency’s place among the world’s leading creative consultancies. “Our pitch is straightforward,” Steele said. “Work on par with the large international agencies. A small team, closer to the work. Tomoro is a useful proof point. The right name, the right positioning and the right brand travel a long way.”
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