Natalie Fratto, a tech start-up founder based in New York, wears a dark green woolen jumper featuring a cartoonish image of Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, on the front. The $178 (£132) garment is part of Nvidia's exclusive clothing line, which includes t-shirts, hoodies, and hats. These items are typically only available at pop-up stalls during Nvidia's conferences or through limited-time online "drops," often selling out quickly. Fratto, who is not employed by Nvidia, compares wearing the jumper to donning a sports team jersey, such as her New Zealand All Blacks rugby shirt. She says the clothing reflects the company's values and the team she admires, and she proudly showcases it in her social media videos. Nvidia has experienced rapid growth under Huang's leadership, capitalizing on the AI boom to become one of the world's most valuable companies. However, its clothing sales are far less significant than its chip sales. Other tech firms are also entering the apparel market, often emphasizing exclusivity. OpenAI, which operates ChatGPT, usually offers branded fashion to employees but occasionally makes it available to the public for a short time. Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, recently opened a temporary pop-up coffee shop in New York's West Village, giving away free baseball hats with "thinking" embroidered on the front for one week. Professor Hazel Clark from the Parsons School of Design in New York notes that limiting the availability of clothing is a common strategy used by brands to increase desirability. While it is unclear why tech firms are selling clothing, as they do not seem to need the additional income, it is likely related to brand promotion and reputation management. US software firm Palantir Technologies, which has faced criticism for its work with the military and police, launched its own clothing line last year and now calls itself a "lifestyle brand." Palantir's head of strategic engagement, Eliano Younes, states that the brand is defined by its values and whether people want to align with it. Critics suggest that companies like Palantir use stylish merchandise to generate more positive conversations about their brand. Younes argues that the clothing, like the company's software, is not political and is designed for those who support Palantir and its mission. Some companies are more explicitly political with their clothing. US defense firm Anduril, which makes military drones, sells a hoodie emblazoned with the words "Rebuild the Arsenal," reflecting its aim to increase US defense spending and manufacturing. Greg Epstein, author of Tech Agnostic, describes the tech industry as a cult or new global religion. He suggests that wearing tech merch is a way of symbolizing that one is part of the "prophetic elite," which can appeal to Silicon Valley insiders searching for identity, purpose, and community. Epstein, who is the humanist chaplain at Harvard and MIT, says that when tech bros put themselves on sweaters, it is more than a cutesy phenomenon—it is an attempt to sell a cult aiming to radically alter the human condition.