OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive's io for $6.5 Billion, Signaling Major Push into AI Hardware

Apple legend Jony Ive takes control of OpenAI's design future

On Wednesday, OpenAI announced that former Apple design chief Jony Ive and his design firm LoveFrom will take over creative and design control at OpenAI. The deal makes Ive responsible for shaping the future look and feel of AI products at the chatbot creator, extending across all of the company's ventures, including ChatGPT. Jony Ive was Apple's chief design officer for nearly three decades, where he led the design of iconic products including the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch, earning numerous industry awards and helping transform Apple into the world's most valuable company through his minimalist design philosophy. "Thrilled to be partnering with jony, imo the greatest designer in the world," tweeted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman while sharing a 9-minute promotional video touting the personal and professional relationship between Ive and Altman. Ive left Apple in 2019 to found LoveFrom, a design firm that has worked with companies including Ferrari, Airbnb, and luxury Italian fashion firm Moncler. The mechanics of the Ive-OpenAI deal are slightly convoluted. At its core, OpenAI will acquire Ive's company "io" in an all-equity deal valued at $6.5 billion -- Ive founded io last year to design and develop AI-powered products. Meanwhile, io's staff of approximately 55 engineers, scientists, researchers, physicists, and product development specialists will become part of OpenAI. Meanwhile, Ive's design firm LoveFrom will continue to operate independently, with OpenAI becoming a customer of LoveFrom, while LoveFrom will receive a stake in OpenAI. The companies expect the transaction to close this summer pending regulatory approval.

Jony Ive to lead OpenAI's design work following $6.5B acquisition of his company

Famed Apple product designer Jony Ive will now lead creative and design work at OpenAI, the result on an usual deal announced on Wednesday. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive have been working on an AI device that will move consumers beyond screens for roughly two years, according to The Wall Street Journal. "Thrilled to be partnering with Jony, imo the greatest designer in the world," said Altman in a post on X Wednesday. "Excited to try to create a new generation of AI-powered computers." OpenAI is taking an all-equity stake in io, a joint venture between Sam Altman and Ive. The deal values the venture at $6.5 billion; OpenAI previously had a 23% stake, according to the Journal. Io has a staff of around 55 engineers, scientists, researchers, physicists, and product development specialists, per The Wall Street Journal. They will become part of OpenAI. Meanwhile, Ive will retain control of his design firm, LoveFrom, which will continue to operate independently. OpenAI and Ive's collaboration puts one of the iPhone's lead designers at the forefront of the newest technology wave, generative AI. Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, OpenAI has amped up its consumer business significantly. Earlier this month, the company appointed former Meta executive and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo to lead its consumer applications. Should OpenAI release a consumer hardware device, Ive could help the startup directly compete with Apple. Io, under OpenAI, will develop AI-powered consumer devices and other projects. The Wall Street Journal reports that Ive will have an expansive role, giving input into future versions of ChatGPT and more. The Information first reported on OpenAI's discussions to acquire io in March. At the time, the two companies had discussed building a device that would bring a version of the technology from the movie "Her" to life.

OpenAI's Big Bet That Jony Ive Can Make AI Hardware Work

Io, a firm Ive and Sam Altman cocreated, will now merge with OpenAI. OpenAI has fully acquired Io, a joint venture it cocreated last year with Jony Ive, the famed British designer behind the sleek industrial aesthetic that defined the iPhone and more than two decades of Apple products. In a nearly 10-minute video posted to X Wednesday, Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the Apple pioneer's "creative collective" will "merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering, and product teams in San Francisco." OpenAI says it's paying $5 billion dollars in equity to acquire io. The promotional video included musings on technology from both Ive and Altman, set against the golden-hour backdrop of the streets of San Francisco, but the two never share exactly what it is they're building. "We look forward to sharing our work next year," a text statement at the end of the video reads. Given the pair's emphasis on building a hardware device for the AI era, and Ive's pedigree at Apple, it's likely a consumer-facing product. Io launched last spring as part of a joint project between Ive's design firm LoveFrom and OpenAI. In the fourth quarter of last year, Io and OpenAI entered into an official agreement for OpenAI to receive a 23 percent stake in io. Now, OpenAI is buying the entity outright. The merger is a slightly complicated one. The Io team was made up of 55 people prior to this announcement. Now it will expand to include both io and OpenAI employees -- hardware and software engineers, physicists, scientists, and "experts in product development and manufacturing," according to a blog post on OpenAI's website. Ive and Lovefrom will manage the creative design process. But Ive himself will remain independent, OpenAI says, and his firm LoveFrom will continue to operate as a separate entity. The io team will instead report into Peter Welinder, OpenAI's vice president of product, who has worked at OpenAI for eight and a half years. Io's founding team has major design chops. Beyond Ive, the founders include Evans Hankey and Tang Tan, who both worked at Apple. Those who've worked closely with them say they're known to hire people whom they believe have exceptional taste. By bringing on Ive, OpenAI is officially embarking on what is likely one of the more ambitious AI hardware project to date. A number of other major tech companies, including Meta and Google, have tried developing AI-powered devices such as smartglasses in recent years, but mainstream adoption of the technology has been slow and some devices have been plagued by glitches. Humane, another high-profile AI hardware startup founded by former Apple employees, debuted a wearable device in late 2023. Reviewers later found the device, a pin, was susceptible to overheating and a number of other issues. Less than two years later, Humane's devices were pulled from the market and its operating system software and patents were sold to printer giant HP. The joint effort between Altman and Ive was spurred by advancements in AI and also compute power. In its blog post, OpenAI wrote that "computers are now seeing, thinking and understanding." Altman reportedly has hardware ambitions beyond the generative AI software his company develops and sells, and Ive has seemingly been eager to make new imprints in the design world since he left Apple in 2019. "I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the past 30 years has led me to this moment," Ive said in the video. "While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such an important collaboration."

OpenAI Acquires iPhone Designer Jony Ive's Firm Amid Rumors of Screenless Phone

Thomas is a native of upstate New York and a graduate of the University at Albany. As a member of CNET's How To team, he writes about the intersection of policy, information and technology, and how you can best be served in that area. Outside of work, he can most often be found watching too many movies, reading too much, drinking too much coffee, or spending time with his cats. OpenAI on Wednesday announced the $6.5 billion acquisition of io, a technology design company founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, reinvigorating rumors that the company is looking to produce an AI-centric smartphone. Best known for helping design Apple's iPhone, Ive and 55 other employees coming over from io will take over creative and design oversight across the entirety of OpenAI. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, this will include having a design hand in everything from "future versions of ChatGPT to audio features, its app and other products, according to people familiar with the matter." Founded after Ive left Apple in 2019, io's original intention was to develop a new line of AI-powered products. The marriage of OpenAI and io has been rumored to center around a new screenless smartphone. Last month, io denied that a phone was in the works, while OpenAI did not comment. The Wall Street Journal noted in its report that "people familiar with the matter" have claimed that the partnership is working towards "a new device that will move consumers beyond screens." OpenAI and Ive have reportedly been partnering on an unrevealed line of products for the past two years, with devices beyond a phone also under consideration. "I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment," Ive said in an official statement about the acquisition. Whether this rumored screen-free smartphone can find purchase in the modern landscape remains to be seen. It's hard to imagine today's consumers embracing a phone without the ability to view, say, TikTok videos, and while there has been a recent movement of folks towards less distracting "dumb" phones, those folks don't seem like the type that would want something heavily geared towards AI. A representative for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

OpenAI goes all in on hardware, will buy Jony Ive's AI startup

On acquiring the startup in a nearly $6.5 billion all-stock deal, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he wants AI devices to create 'an embarrassment of riches.' OpenAI is officially getting into the hardware business. In a video posted to X on Wednesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Apple designer Jony Ive, who worked on flagship products like the iPhone, revealed a partnership to create the next generation of AI-enabled devices. Also: I tried Google's XR glasses and they already beat my Meta Ray-Bans in 3 ways The AI software company announced it is merging with io, an under-the-radar startup focused on AI devices that Ive founded a year ago alongside several partners. In the video, Altman and Ive say they have been "quietly" collaborating for two years. As part of the deal, Ive and those at his design firm, LoveFrom, will remain independent but will take on creative roles at OpenAI. Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems. "The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower, and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering, and product teams in San Francisco," OpenAI wrote in an accompanying blog post about the merger. The post did not offer many more details. "I want this to be democratized, I want everyone to have it," Altman says in the video, referring to the hardware OpenAI aims to build under the new partnership. Earlier this month, OpenAI moved to become a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), announcing the shift with similar language about making AI accessible to as many people as possible and focused on social betterment goals. Historically, technology of that caliber takes a while to become truly accessible and intuitive for large groups of people to use, and current AI devices like the iPhone 16 require specific, expensive hardware to run. Emphasizing how scientists use OpenAI models to accelerate breakthroughs, Altman added in the video that he hopes forthcoming AI hardware opens up an "embarrassment of riches of what people go create for collective society." The merger follows several hints from earlier this year signaling OpenAI's interest in hardware like wearables and robotics. With most major hardware providers launching AI-powered smartphones (despite a few drawbacks), laptops, and other tech, the space is moving quickly. On the more experimental end of that spectrum, AI devices like Humane Pin and Rabbit R1 haven't exactly succeeded, though health wearables that make use of AI for big-picture insights are taking off. Also: The five coolest gadgets announced at Computex 2025 (and they're actually affordable) It's unclear what hardware category OpenAI will target first. The video notes that the two companies won't release anything until likely next year, though Altman vaguely mentions a prototype of an initial product in the video that he says is "the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen." According to the Wall Street Journal, Altman and Ive have discussed camera devices and headphones as possible products, but nothing is confirmed yet.

OpenAI is buying Jony Ive's AI hardware company

About 55 hardware engineers, software developers, and manufacturing experts will join OpenAI as part of the acquisition. That includes Cannon, Hankey, and Tan. The first devices following the acquisition are set to launch in 2026. In an interview with Bloomberg, Ive called AI hardware misfires like the Humane Pin and Rabbit R1, "very poor products," and said that "There has been an absence of new ways of thinking expressed in products.""We gathered together the best hardware and software engineers, the best technologists, physicists, scientists, researchers and experts in product development and manufacturing," Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a joint post. "Many of us have worked closely for decades. The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco."

OpenAI Wants to (Eventually) Sell You a Jony Ive-Designed AI Gadget

The ChatGPT maker is spending an estimated $6.5 billion to acquire the former Apple design chief's startup, dubbed io, and Sam Altman has grand plans to reinvent the computer. Can OpenAI reinvent the computer? The company behind ChatGPT is laying the groundwork to do just that with the help of iPhone designer Jony Ive. On Wednesday, San Francisco-based OpenAI revealed it's acquiring a startup, called "io," that Ive secretly created a year ago to develop next-generation hardware to fully harness AI. "I think we have the opportunity here to completely reimagine what it means to use a computer," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a video hyping up the announcement. Unfortunately, no prototypes were shown. But in the clip, Altman said io's goal is to "create a family of devices" to better use AI. "The first one we've been working on...has just completely captured our imagination," Ive said. Altman has been testing the prototype at home and says: "I've been able to live with it and I think it's the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen." As for why io was created, Altman and Ive explained in a blog post that one problem facing generative AI is that it "remains shaped by traditional products and interfaces." Ive and Altman began collaborating about two years ago, leading them to conclude "that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company." So, a year ago, Ive founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan, all of whom are former Apple design chiefs. According to the blog post, io has attracted other top hardware and software engineers, along with "the best technologists, physicists, scientists, researchers and experts in product development and manufacturing." The New York Times reports that OpenAI is paying $6.5 billion for the startup. In addition, Ive and his design firm LoveFrom "will assume design and creative responsibilities across OpenAl and io," the video clip says. OpenAI says it'll share more next year. But the company won't be the first to try and develop a hardware product that revolves around generative AI. The startup Humane, also the brainchild of former Apple employees, developed a Star Trek-like pin around AI. But the $699 product flopped and its assets were sold to HP.

OpenAI to buy Jony Ive's io Products for $6.5bn

Michael Acton, Cristina Criddle and George Hammond in San Francisco OpenAI is set to acquire former Apple design chief Jony Ive's hardware start-up io Products for about $6.5bn, according to people familiar with the matter. Sam Altman's AI venture is one of a number of companies betting on alternatives to the smartphone as the predominant device to access AI. Ive, the designer behind many of Apple's best-known products, left the company in 2019 after almost three decades. During that time, he formed a close relationship with co-founder Steve Jobs and oversaw the rollout of the iPod, iPhone, MacBook and Apple Watch. OpenAI has a high-profile partnership with Apple, which integrated ChatGPT into its voice assistant and writing tools in December as part of an artificial intelligence overhaul of its products dubbed "Apple Intelligence".

OpenAI buys Jony Ive's design startup for $6.5 billion

OpenAI is buying Jony Ive's startup, io, for $6.5 billion, as first reported by The New York Times. The company confirmed the news in a blog post on its website headlined by the photo you see above, which is apparently real and not AI generated. As part of the deal, Ive and his design studio, LoveForm, will continue to work independently of OpenAI. However, Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan, who co-founded io with Ive, will become OpenAI employees, alongside about 50 other engineers, designers and researchers. In collaboration with OpenAI's existing teams, they'll work on hardware that allows people to interact with OpenAI's technologies. OpenAI has not disclosed whether the deal would be paid for in cash or stock. Per the Wall Street Journal, it's an all-equity deal. Open AI has yet to turn a profit. Moreover, according to reporting from The Information, OpenAI agreed to share 20 percent of its revenue with Microsoft until 2030 in return for the more than $13 billion the tech giant has invested into it. When asked about how it would finance the acquisition, Altman told The Times the press worries about OpenAI's funding and revenue more than the company itself. "We'll be fine," he said. "Thanks for the concern." The deal is still subject to regulatory approval. In an interview with The Times, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive, best known for his design work on the iPhone, said the goal of the partnership is to create "amazing products that elevate humanity." Before today, Altman was an investor in Humane, the startup behind the failed Humane AI Pin. HP bought the company earlier this year for $116 million, far less than the $1 billion Humane had reportedly sought before the sale. "The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco," OpenAI writes of the acquisition on its website. "As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io." According to The Times, OpenAI already had a 23 percent stake in io following an agreement the two companies made at the end of 2024. OpenAI is now paying approximately $5 billion to take full control of the startup. Just what form whatever devices come out partnership will look like is unclear. The description for the YouTube video you see above says, "Building a family of AI products for everyone." Whatever comes out of the acquisition could take years to hit the market, and some of the Ive and his team do may never see the light of day.

Why OpenAI's deal with iPhone designer Jony Ive should be a wake up call for Apple

He became a touchstone in Silicon Valley for great hardware because of his role in the creation of the iPhone and Apple Watch. On Wednesday, Ive returned to the computer industry with a new video, but it wasn't launching a new Apple product. Instead, Ive announced a $6.4 billion deal that will merge his nascent hardware firm, called io, with OpenAI. Ive will head up the design for a new series of AI hardware products. The announcement underscores the growing sense in Silicon Valley that smart artificial intelligence assistants could upend the gadget world, displacing the laptops and smartphones that Apple currently builds with new products that look and function totally differently. "Tech shifts like the internet, the smartphone, and AI only happen once in a generation. OpenAI is catalyzing this shift into something tangible," longtime Apple analyst Gene Munster posted on X on Wednesday. Even Apple executives have said that AI hardware could threaten its iPhone business. Eddy Cue, Apple's chief of services, said in court earlier this month that he believes AI devices could replace the iPhone within 10 years, "crazy as that sounds," he said. "AI is a new technology shift, and it's creating new opportunities for new entrants," Cue said. Meanwhile, Apple's big improvement to its built-in assistant, Siri, was delayed earlier this year. One of the core features of Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of AI features, was the integration with OpenAI for ChatGPT to handle the queries that Apple Intelligence couldn't. And Siri still functions like a question-and-answer system, instead of a fluent conversationalist, like ChatGPT or Google's Gemini. Apple's next opportunity to show off what it's been working on is on June 9 at its annual WWDC conference in Cupertino. It's where Apple first revealed Apple Intelligence last year, and where it typically announces its latest software for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. OpenAI's announcement was light on details about what kinds of products the new OpenAI hardware workforce will design and build. The company says that it will show off what it's working on next year.

OpenAI recruits legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive to work on AI hardware in $6.5B deal

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- OpenAI has recruited Jony Ive, the designer behind Apple's iPhone, to lead a new hardware project for the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT. OpenAI said it is acquiring io, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion. OpenAI said its CEO Sam Altman had been "quietly" collaborating since 2023 with Ive and his design firm, LoveFrom. Ive worked at Apple for over two decades and is known for his work on iconic iPhone, iMac and iPad designs. Ive was Apple's chief design officer before leaving the company in 2019 to start his own design firm. In a joint letter posted on OpenAI's website Wednesday, Ive and Altman said it "became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company." That's when Ive co-founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. OpenAI said Ive will not become an OpenAI employee and his design collective, LoveFrom, will remain independent but "will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io." Both OpenAI and Ive's design firm are based in San Francisco. -- -- -- The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement that allows OpenAI access to part of AP's text archives.

OpenAI is buying iPhone designer Jony Ive's AI devices startup for $6.4 billion

OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman appears on screen during a talk with Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella at the Microsoft Build 2025, conference in Seattle, Washington on May 19, 2025. OpenAI said on Wednesday that it's buying Jony Ive's AI devices startup io for $6.4 billion in an all-equity deal that includes its current stake in the company. Ive is taking on "deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io," OpenAI said in a statement. The company said that io is merging with OpenAI, while Ive and his "creative collective" called LoveFrom will stay independent. The news comes as OpenAI is rushing to stay ahead in the generative AI race, where competitors including Google, Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI are investing heavily and regularly rolling out new products. And part of staying ahead in that race includes shoring up its hardware operations. OpenAI is backed by Microsoft and was recently valued at $300 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank.

OpenAI Unites With Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal to Create A.I. Devices

The rise of artificial intelligence has profoundly altered the technology world in recent years, upending how software is created, how people search for information, and how images and videos can be generated -- all with a few prompts to a chatbot. What the technology has yet to do, though, is find a preferred form in a physical, everyday gadget. A.I. largely remains the domain of an app on phones, despite efforts by start-ups and others to move it into devices. Now OpenAI, the world's leading A.I. lab, is taking a crack at that riddle. On Wednesday, Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive, said the company was paying $6.5 billion to buy io, a one-year-old start-up created by Jony Ive, a former top Apple executive who designed the iPhone. The deal, which effectively unites Silicon Valley royalty, is intended to usher in what the two men call "a new family of products" for the age of artificial general intelligence, or A.G.I., which is shorthand for a future technology that achieves human-level intelligence. The deal, which is OpenAI's biggest acquisition, will bring in Mr. Ive and his team of roughly 55 engineers, designers and researchers. They will assume creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and build hardware that helps people better interact with the technology. In a joint interview, Mr. Ive and Mr. Altman declined to say what such devices could look like and how they might work, but they said they hoped to share details next year. Mr. Ive, 58, framed the ambitions as galactic, with the aim of creating "amazing products that elevate humanity." "We've been waiting for the next big thing for 20 years," Mr. Altman, 40, added. "We want to bring people something beyond the legacy products we've been using for so long." Mr. Altman and Mr. Ive are effectively looking beyond an era of smartphones, which have been people's signature personal device since the iPhone debuted in 2007. If the two men succeed -- and it is a very big if -- they could spur what is known as "ambient computing." Rather than typing and taking photographs on smartphones, future devices like pendants or glasses that use A.I. could process the world in real-time, fielding questions and analyzing images and sounds in seamless ways. Mr. Altman had invested in Humane, a company that pursued this kind of vision with the creation of an A.I. pin. But the start-up folded not long after its product flopped. In their interview, Mr. Ive expressed some misgivings with the iPhone and said that had motivated him to team up with Mr. Altman. "I shoulder a lot of the responsibility for what these things have brought us," he said, referring to the anxiety and distractions that come with being constantly connected to the computer in your pocket. Mr. Altman echoed the sentiment. "I don't feel good about my relationship with technology right now," he said. "It feels a lot like being jostled on a crowded street in New York, or being bombarded with notifications and flashing lights in Las Vegas." He said the goal was to leverage A.I. to help people make some sense of the noise. As part of the deal, Mr. Ive and his design studio, LoveFrom, will remain independent and continue to work on projects separate from OpenAI. Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan, who also founded io with Mr. Ive, will become OpenAI's employees and report to Peter Welinder, a vice president of product, who will oversee the io division. The acquisition is a significant windfall for Mr. Ive. OpenAI and LoveFrom declined to disclose financial specifics, including whether the $6.5 billion deal would be paid in cash or stock. The deal is subject to regulatory approval. OpenAI already owned a 23 percent stake in io as part of an agreement between the two companies at the end of last year, two people with knowledge of the deal said, so it is now paying around $5 billion to fully acquire the start-up. OpenAI separately has a Start-up Fund that invested in Mr. Ive's start-up last year, the people said. (The New York Times has sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement regarding news content related to A.I. systems. OpenAI and Microsoft have denied the claims.) OpenAI set off the A.I. boom in late 2022 when it released the ChatGPT chatbot. In March, the start-up completed a $40 billion funding that valued it at $300 billion, making it one of the world's most valuable private companies. The fund-raising round was led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. As it has grown, OpenAI has struggled to adopt a new corporate structure. Founded in 2015 as a nonprofit organization, the A.I. lab has been trying to reinvent itself as a for-profit company so it can more easily raise money from investors. If it does not restructure by the end of the year, SoftBank could halve its investment in the company. That makes the billions that OpenAI is paying for Mr. Ive's start-up a steep outlay, especially as the start-up is also unprofitable. Building the technology that powers ChatGPT and other services is enormously expensive, and OpenAI is under pressure to raise revenues. OpenAI expects about $3.7 billion in sales this year and about $11.6 billion next year, according to financial documents reviewed by The Times. The company is also in talks to acquire Windsurf, an A.I.-powered programming tool, for about $3 billion. Asked how OpenAI would find the money to buy io, Mr. Altman said the press worried about OpenAI's funding and revenues more than the company did. "We'll be fine," he said. "Thanks for the concern." The deal came together after Mr. Ive, a protégé of Apple's founder, Steve Jobs, who designed the iPod and many other products, became intrigued by A.I. He felt somewhat lost after leaving Apple in 2019, he said, and was eager to find his next act. Two years ago, Charlie Ive, one of his 21-year-old twin sons, told him about ChatGPT, Mr. Ive said. Curious about his son's excitement over the chatbot, Mr. Ive connected with Mr. Altman. They became friends. Mr. Ive said he was so enamored with the technology that he founded io last year with several peers to conceptualize new hardware products suited to A.I. By early this year, it became clear that he and Mr. Altman wanted to form a partnership to work on a new generation of devices, he said. Mr. Ive said the partnership was not being led by a fiscal imperative but from a place of building products that "benefit humanity." "I believe everything I've done in my career was leading to this," he said. Tripp Mickle contributed reporting.

Apple designer Sir Jony Ive joins OpenAI

Legendary British designer Sir Jony Ive, who helped create the Apple iPhone, is joining forces with OpenAI, as the artificial intelligence (AI) firm sets its sights on developing hardware. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, will buy a start-up founded by Sir Jony, who will "assume deep design and creative responsibilities" across the company, the two firms said in an announcement. Open AI boss Sam Altman said the goal was to create a "family of devices" made specifically with AI in mind. The deal comes as the tech industry has been looking for its next hardware hit after the iPhone and takes particular aim at Apple, which some say has been moving too slowly to incorporate AI into its devices.

Jony Ive and Sam Altman, Sitting in a Tree, 'K-I-L-L-I-N-G' the Smartphone

Ive and fellow iPhone vets will have a say on ChatGPT development, though they still won’t tell us what the hell they’re making. OpenAI declared it will put up an astronomical $6.5 billion to merge with Jony Ive and his secretive AI device design company. Ive, who helped bring us legendary products like the iMac and iPhone, will lead the makers of ChatGPT not just in making a better chatbot but in creating a product that “reimagines†a personal computer. Perhaps Ive and Silicon Valley darling OpenAI CEO Sam Altman may finally help us escape our screen addiction, or it could just be another Humane pin. Altman and Ive came together in a massive media blitz to announce their new match made in heaven. Ive’s company, LoveFrom, alongside other big names in tech design spaces, including former lead iPhone designer Tang Tan, was already working with Altman on this device. Now, the engagement is official. Ive and fellow Apple vets will now be heavily involved in all aspects of OpenAI’s software and hardware development. While LoveFrom is partnered with OpenAI on this project as an independent company, those at Ive’s separate company, “io,†will work hand-in-hand with the makers of ChatGPT to bring forth “a family of products†designed for our current age of AI. In an announcement video posted to X, Altman said this merger was “formed with the mission of figuring out how to create a family of devices that would let people use AI to create all sorts of wonderful things.†For his part, Ive mentioned that the world is still fixated on a device whose design hasn’t radically changed for well over a decade. Ive still hasn’t offered an iota of what this supposed device looks like, what it does, or how it has, in his words, “captured our imagination.†It does exist, it is somehow portableâ€"as Altman said he has used an early prototypeâ€"but it will be kept under wraps until some unknown date. The Wall Street Journal reported, based on anonymous sources, that the makers of the still-unknown device want to “move consumers beyond screens.†OpenAI, under the new big tech chimera spearheaded by Ive and Altman, said this device may not replace smartphones, at least not initially, according to Bloomberg. In the meantime, Ive’s team will “take over†all other design space at OpenAI, including progressing development on ChatGPT. Perhaps these veteran designers can move the chatbot beyond its current iteration as a cheating tool used by students to keep themselves from learning. As for that unknown AI hardware, we can’t help but remind ourselves about last year’s deluge of AI wearables akin to the Humane AI Pin. That device included connectivity to a chatbot that could also handle light tasks like texts or emails on the behalf of users. The Ai Pin was inundated with problems and sold so poorly that Humane sold itself off to HP for a fraction of its initial $850 billion valuation. In the interview with Bloomberg, Ive said the Humane Ai Pin and fellow AI-centric doohickey, the Rabbit R1, were both “very poor products.†He further added, “there has been an absence of new ways of thinking expressed in products.†Without actual product details, prospective customers will just have to take his word for it. In a recent interview with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, the man who worked alongside Steve Jobs to create the original iPhone aired his grievances with the screen-obsessed world he helped create. He called out social media as a societal ill, and maybe he can convince the company to quash its reported plans for a Twitter clone.

OpenAI Will Work on Hardware Products With Jony Ive

Jony Ive, the famous designer responsible for many of Apple's most well-known products, is teaming up with OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. This new company will focus on hardware that incorporates AI. This partnership, which has led to the creation of a new company called "io," will bring AI even closer than before. The plan is to use OpenAI's artificial intelligence, especially ChatGPT, to help design and develop new kinds of hardware. While he doesn't get as much credit as Steve Jobs, Ive's career is defined by sleek, simple designs and easy-to-use products. During his many years at Apple, he led the design of popular devices like the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, each of which became incredibly popular in tech. Ive's minimalist style and focus on making technology intuitive have left a lasting mark not just on Apple but on the entire consumer electronics industry. Now, he's bringing that same style to AI by working OpenAI. According to Bloomberg, this deal cost OpenAI $6.5 billion. We don't know exactly what the hardware will bring, but it will likely be a lot more than just another run-of-the-mill competitor to an existing brand. The collaboration between LoveFrom, Ive's design firm, and OpenAI is a big deal. While the exact details are still under wraps, the goal is to create a new line of AI-powered devices. This isn't just about adding AI to existing gadgets. According to the lengthy video announcing the partnership, the goal is to design devices that blend AI capabilities to improve how people interact with technology. This could finally lead to the day when we have computers on our arms like in the Mass Effect video game series. However, I am pretty sure it will be something like glasses that will give you AR vision and answer your questions. Related ChatGPT's GPT-4.5 and GPT-5 Upgrades Are on the Way Hopefully, you won't need to think about which AI model you're using. Posts Ive was the design Chief for Apple when it was making its biggest products for the first time, and led these big projects. So if he can make what Jobs envisioned before these devices came to be, he'll likely be able to make what OpenAI wants from its hardware. The new company, "io," has brought together a talented team of engineers, researchers, and experts from different fields. Despite this, it is doubtful that this will lead to major innovation. A single AI-powered device appealing to everyone or meeting all user needs sounds a bit far-fetched. Still, Ive is probably the best candidate to do something like this. The key to all this will be making AI and hardware work together smoothly. While we can do that with our computers, a separate device won't have the luxury of a big, bulky case. However, if io can pull this off, it could set a new standard for how AI fits into our everyday lives. I am looking forward to hearing about what device is coming. Source: OpenAI

iPhone designer Jony Ive will join OpenAI to build AI-powered devices

Ive's design firm is already working on products for OpenAI, as the company seeks to become a major consumer brand. SAN FRANCISCO -- Jony Ive, designer of some of Apple's most popular products, will join ChatGPT maker OpenAI to help create products that make it easier to use artificial intelligence. Ive and OpenAI announced the partnership Wednesday in a video in which Ive, whose Apple designs include the iPhone, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that existing devices like laptops and smartphones don't make AI chatbots simple enough to use. "I am absolutely certain that we are on the brink of a new generation of technology," Ive said in the video. The partnership, which involves the merger of OpenAI and Ive's company, called IO, underlines how OpenAI aims to become a major consumer brand, in addition to providing the back-end technology for other businesses. That will intensify the company's competition with established tech giants including Google, Microsoft, Meta and Apple, where Ive made his name through his close partnership with its co-founder Steve Jobs. Ive left Apple in 2019, after 30 years at the company. OpenAI has not indicated what products Ive will work on, but in the video released Wednesday, Altman hinted among them would be a new hardware device. "If I wanted to ask ChatGPT something right now," he said, while sitting in a San Francisco restaurant with Ive, "I would get out my laptop. ... I think this technology deserves something much better." OpenAI is not the only technology company trying to make chatbots and AI easier to access. Several of them have billions of existing users, while OpenAI is still a novelty for much of the world. ChatGPT has 400 million weekly users, the company has said. On Tuesday, Google unveiled smart glasses that can use the company's AI technology to translate a person's conversations between different languages in real-time, see directions projected onto the physical world and search the web for information about what the user is looking at. Apple is working to integrate AI into the iPhone and other products. Social media giant Meta is doubling down on AI tools, too. The Wall Street Journal reported the deal between Ive and OpenAI involves OpenAI buying IO for $6.5 billion worth of OpenAI stock. An OpenAI spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Ive and Altman said in their video that they had already been working on a new product, but did not describe it. "The first one I've been working on has just completely captured my imagination," Ive said. Altman made clear the scale of his product ambitions by adding, "I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen."

OpenAI enters hardware game with ex-Apple team and $6.5B bet

Sam Altman and Jony Ive discuss their collaboration to bring OpenAI into hardware. OpenAI has acquired the AI hardware startup io, founded by renowned designer Jony Ive, in a deal valued at $6.5 billion. The transaction marks OpenAI's largest acquisition to date and brings Ive's expertise in product design directly into the company's core operations. "This is an extraordinary moment. Computers are now seeing, thinking and understanding," OpenAI and Ive said in a joint statement. "Despite this unprecedented capability, our experience remains shaped by traditional products and interfaces."

Jony Ive and Evans Hankey are now OpenAI employees after AI startup acquisition - 9to5Mac

OpenAI has announced the first details about its work with Jony Ive. The announcement includes a video that also answers the mystery of what Jony Ive was filming in San Francisco recently. The effort involves Evans Hankey, who briefly replaced Jony Ive at Apple, and comes in the form of a new firm called io that is merging with OpenAI. Jony Ive, OpenAI employee. Here's the announcement video: And here's a bit from the OpenAI announcement today: Computers are now seeing, thinking and understanding. Despite this unprecedented capability, our experience remains shaped by traditional products and interfaces. Two years ago, Jony Ive and the creative collective LoveFrom, quietly began collaborating with Sam Altman and the team at OpenAI. A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition. Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs.The ideas seemed important and useful. They were optimistic and hopeful. They were inspiring. They made everyone smile. They reminded us of a time when we celebrated human achievement, grateful for new tools that helped us learn, explore and create. It became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company. And so, one year ago, Jony founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan.We gathered together the best hardware and software engineers, the best technologists, physicists, scientists, researchers and experts in product development and manufacturing. Many of us have worked closely for decades. The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco. As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io. We could not possibly be more excited. Naturally, Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has the best parts of this scoop, reporting that OpenAI has actually bought the AI startup firm for $6.5 billion.

OpenAI and Jony Ive are building the 'iPhone of AI' -- here's what that means for you

OpenAI made its boldest move yet, which could completely reshape how we interact with artificial intelligence. The OpenAI CEO has acquired io, an AI hardware startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, in a $6.5 billion deal. Altman hopes to create the "iPhone of AI" -- an intuitive and human-friendly device that might make our current smartphones feel outdated. The partnership fuses OpenAI's advanced software with Ive's world-renowned hardware design ethos. Beyond a business deal, it's a moonshot to reinvent what AI can look and feel like in everyday life. If successful, this could be the moment AI moves off our screens and into the world around us. "AI is an incredible technology," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement as part of a joint announcement by OpenAI and Jony Ive's design firm, LoveFrom, detailing their collaboration to develop new AI-driven hardware products. "But great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people. No one can do this like Jony and his team." Jony Ive isn't joining OpenAI directly. Instead, his independent firm, LoveFrom, will lead design for the upcoming AI hardware. Over 55 former Apple engineers are also coming onboard, including key names behind the iPhone and Apple Watch: Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan. The team's first device is expected in 2026. According to early leaks and interviews, the focus will be on "invisible" or ambient computing. That means less screen time, more natural interactions, and potentially a whole new category of AI-integrated products. Both Altman and Ive have been open about the pitfalls of current tech, especially the addictive, screen-based models that dominate our lives. The new AI devices aim to break that pattern, using design and voice-based interfaces to make technology feel less like a distraction and more like an invisible assistant. Leaked concepts suggest we might see: "Everything I've learned over 30 years has led to this," Ive told The Wall Street Journal. "I'm anxious, excited, and grateful." This is OpenAI's largest acquisition to date, and perhaps the most strategic. With ChatGPT already in the hands of millions, the company now has the design talent to build physical devices that could bring generative AI to the forefront of consumer tech. If this works, we could be looking at AI's equivalent of the iPhone moment: an expertly designed, game-changing product that sets the tone for the next decade of personal technology. This $6.5 billion deal with OpenAI, Jony Ive and 55 ex-Apple engineers, means we could soon see AI hardware designed for natural, screen-free interaction by 2026. OpenAI is betting on a future where AI fades into the background, enhancing life as a smart companion instead of dominating it.

OpenAI Buys Jony Ive's AI Startup to Create a 'New Kind of Computing Form Factor'

OpenAI is acquiring io, the hardware-based AI startup co-created by Jony Ive, OpenAI announced today. Ive has been working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on io for two years, and the duo expects to develop a family of AI devices. Ive will be involved in the design of the device, as will several former Apple design employees who have been working on the io project, including Tang Tan, Scott Cannon, and Evans Hankey, who led design at Apple after Ive left the company in 2019. Mark Newson, a designer Ive has worked with on several products, is also on the team. Hankey, Tan, and Cannon will join OpenAI. OpenAI has been in talks with Altman and Ive about an acquisition or a partnership since April. OpenAI will provide the AI expertise for the device, while io will handle engineering and LoveFrom will work on design. LoveFrom will take over all design at OpenAI. Ive and Altman started discussing some kind of AI hardware device back in 2023 before io was founded. Ive and Altman want to create a device that is less disruptive than the iPhone, and past descriptions have suggested it will be akin to a smartphone without a screen. Similar screen-free voice-based AI devices like the Rabbit R1 and the Humane Ai Pin have so far not fared well, but Ive is known for his design expertise, and OpenAI is an industry leader. There is a chance that the partnership could result in a transformative device that other companies aren't capable of producing. OpenAI's effort to create an AI hardware product would put it in direct competition with Apple. Apple is behind on AI development, and it is facing a future where people are waiting for the next big thing that could serve as an iPhone replacement. The first device from the partnership between OpenAI and Ive is expected to be "something new." "People have an appetite for something new, which is a reflection on a sort of an unease with where we currently are," Ive said, referring to products available today. Ive and Altman's first devices are slated to debut in 2026. OpenAI's acquisition of io is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed this summer. It is OpenAI's biggest acquisition to date, with the company paying $6.5 billion for io, according to Bloomberg.

OpenAI buys iPhone architect's startup for $6.4bn

The untested hardware startup, called io, was founded by Apple design guru Jony Ive OpenAI is buying an untested startup for $6.4bn, the ChatGPT maker's biggest acquisition yet. The hardware startup, called io, was founded Apple design guru Jony Ive, known best as one of the principal architects of the iPhone. Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a blog post that their partnership has been two years in the making. "A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition," they wrote in the blog post, which offered scant details on upcoming devices. "Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs." OpenAI's purchase of io is its biggest known acquisition yet. Ive and a cohort of other Apple alumni founded io one year ago, according to the blog post. It is part of Ive's bigger project called LoveFrom, which describes itself as a "creative collective" made up of architects, artists, engineers, various types of designers, musicians and writers. Ive left Apple in 2019 after a 27-year career as one of the company's foremost product designers. He's known for simple and clean aesthetics that pay attention to small details like packaging and font. One of his early famous designs was the brightly colored bubble-shaped iMac computer. From there, he went on to design the first iPod, iPhone, Macbook Air, Apple Watch and AirPods. For his work on creating such distinctive products, Ive was knighted by Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace in 2012, a moment he called "thrilling" and "particularly humbling". In Altman and Ive's blog post on Wednesday, they wrote that the io team will merge with OpenAI to work "more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco". Ive himself will not join OpenAI as an employee, but his company will "take over design for all of OpenAI, including its software". Since leaving Apple and starting LoveFrom, Ive has mostly remained quiet, and io has not debuted any hardware. His company's list of clients reportedly includes Christie's, Airbnb and Ferrari, though. Another project Ive has been working on is LoveFrom's headquarters in San Francisco, according to the New York Times. Ives told the paper he is designing the headquarters of the company he is developing with OpenAI. OpenAI has likewise yet to unveil a hardware device, but it has indicated it is heading in that direction. It has hired hardware and robotics staff, including Caitlin "CK" Kalinowski who headed Meta's augmented reality glasses initiative. In her LinkedIn announcement, Kalinowski wrote that his new role at OpenAI is to focus on "robotics work and partnerships to help bring AI into the physical world". OpenAI has also invested in the robot startup Physical Intelligence, which aims to bring "general-purpose AI into the physical world". Investors have been throwing money at OpenAi over the past couple of years, which is now valued at $300bn, according to Bloomberg. In March, it closed a funding round of $40bn led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. Microsoft has a 49% stake in the AI company after investing $13bn in 2023. Along with io, OpenAI moved to make other mammoth acquisitions over the last year. It purchased the AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for $3bn earlier this month and bought the real-time analytics database Rockset for an undisclosed sum last summer.

OpenAI Buys Apple Vet Jony Ive's AI Device Startup for $6.5 Billion

OpenAI is targeting AI-powered hardware in a big way. The AI tech company is purchasing io, an AI device startup, for nearly $6.5 billion. The startup was co-founded by veteran Apple designer Jony Ive, who left the company to form a design outfit, LoveFrom, in 2019. It is OpenAI's priciest acquisition yet. Bloomberg reports that the deal is an "all-stock deal," and will provide OpenAI a pathway from being exclusively a software company to making hardware. Alongside acquiring the io startup itself, OpenAI will bring Ive and other former Apple designers into the fold. OpenAI will add around 55 hardware engineers to its team when the deal closes this summer, pending the standard regulatory approvals. "I have a growing sense that everything I've learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place and to this moment," Ive said in a joint interview conducted alongside OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman. "It's a relationship and a way of working together that I think is going to yield products and products and products." Ive describes Altman as a "rare visionary." For his part, Altman says he thinks the late Steve Jobs, who considered Ive his "spiritual partner," would be "damn proud" of Ive joining OpenAI. Technically, Ive and his design firm, LoveFrom, will remain independent, although Ive -- and LoveFrom -- will take over all design for OpenAI, including its software. Ive co-founded io last year alongside fellow Apple alumni Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan. Hankey took over Ive's role at Apple in 2019 and remained there until 2023. Tan led Apple's iPhone and Watch design until 2024. Cannon worked at Apple until departing to co-create email app Mailbox, which Dropbox later acquired. It's a powerful group with a rich history of software and hardware design success. "We gathered together the best hardware and software engineers, the best technologists, physicists, scientists, researchers and experts in product development and manufacturing. Many of us have worked closely for decades. The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco," Ive and Altman said today in a joint statement. As part of the massive acquisition, OpenAI is paying io $5 billion in equity. The remaining balance is covered by a deal last year when OpenAI acquired a 23% stake in io. At that time, OpenAI's startup fund also reportedly invested in Ive's own company. "People have an appetite for something new, which is a reflection on a sort of an unease with where we currently are," Ive said. AI devices have so far been primarily a flop, including the Humane AI pin that launched to dreadful reviews last year and was officially killed off earlier this year. Ive called the Humane AI pin and odd Rabbit R1 personal AI assistant devices "very poor" in an interview with Bloomberg. Atlman, Ive, and the rest of the team are developing devices now and they expect the first ones to arrive in 2026. "It will be worth the wait," Altman promises. "It's a crazy, ambitious thing to make."

OpenAI taps iPhone designer Jony Ive to develop AI devices

Are OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and iPhone designer Jony Ive getting married? In a manner of speaking. In an announcement blog post that's giving major engagement photo vibes, OpenAI announced it will start building AI hardware with the iconic iPhone designer, a big win for the AI company. On Wednesday, the ChatGPT maker announced that it had acquired Ive's startup, which is simply called io. The purchase price is nearly $6.5 billion, according to Bloomberg, which would make it OpenAI's biggest acquisition to date. The official announcement didn't contain much detail and mostly consisted of Altman and Ive gushing about each other. The lovey-dovey blog post (attributed to "Sam & Jony") certainly makes the union sound like a marriage. "Two years ago, Jony Ive and the creative collective LoveFrom, quietly began collaborating with Sam Altman and the team at OpenAI. A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition. Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs. The ideas seemed important and useful. They were optimistic and hopeful. They were inspiring. They made everyone smile. They reminded us of a time when we celebrated human achievement, grateful for new tools that helped us learn, explore and create...We gathered together the best hardware and software engineers, the best technologists, physicists, scientists, researchers and experts in product development and manufacturing. Many of us have worked closely for decades. The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco." Fortunately, an accompanying video posted on OpenAI's X page has more concrete information. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. There's plenty of gushing there too, but the gist is OpenAI is going to make AI-powered devices with Ive and his io team. The initiative is "formed with the mission of figuring out how to make a family of devices that would let people use AI to create all sorts of wonderful things," said Altman in the video. Altman also shared that he has a prototype of what Ive and his team have developed, calling it the "coolest piece of technology the world has ever seen." As far back as 2023, there were reports of OpenAI teaming up with Ive for some kind of AI-first device. Altman and Ive's bromance formed over ideas about developing an AI device beyond the current hardware limitations of phones and computers. "The products that we're using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology, they're decades old," said Ive in the video, "and so it's just common sense to at least think surely there's something beyond these legacy products." Ive is famous for his work at Apple, where he led the designs for the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Steve Jobs even described Ive as his "spiritual partner." OpenAI's move into hardware with a legendary designer, no less, shows the company has no signs of slowing down in terms of dreaming up new products. Just yesterday, Google launched a fleet of AI products, including XR hardware, indicating to some that it had caught up with OpenAI. But OpenAI just unlocked another new realm in AI competition. OpenAI says it plans to share its work with io and Ive starting in 2026.

iPhone designer Jony Ive joins OpenAI, but don't expect a new ChatGPT smartphone

OpenAI is buying Ive's company, io, and they're working on something Jony Ive, who famously designed the iPhone (among other iconic Apple devices), is about to become the design lead for OpenAI, the chatCPT AI giant that, for now, does not make a single hardware device. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported the impending deal, which sees OpenAI acquire Ive's io company in a deal valued at $6.5 billion. As part of that, Ive becomes the design lead for OpenAI, a role he's been slowly-stepping into for some time. Ive, who famously led Apple's design for decades, left the company in 2019 and, in recent months, has expressed some misgivings about the possible negative impact of the previous products he's worked on (which might include the iPhone). "I think when you're innovating, of course, there will be unintended consequences, You hope that the majority will be pleasant surprises. Certain products that I've been very, very involved with, I think there were some unintended consequences that were far from pleasant," said Ive earlier this month, according to the Verge. While reports indicate that Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are interested in building AI-capable consumer hardware, a smartphone is probably not on that menu. Instead, most expect the duo to focus on wearables like earbuds and smartwatches that could be enhanced with, for instance, cameras that could see your surroundings and use onboard AI to help you act on and react to them. Ive's focus will also apparently be on upgrading OpenAI software's visual appeal. So expect an infusion of Ive-ness on ChatGPT on mobile and the desktop (where it has a particularly techy or dev-friendly look), as well as on Sora and Dall-E interfaces. In the latter part of his career at Apple, Ive was most responsible for stripping away skeuomorphism - making digital icons look like their real-world counterparts - across Apple's platforms. OpenAI's software doesn't suffer from the skeuomorphic scourge, but some could argue its overall look is less than elegant. If you're curious if Ive's design skills are still up to snuff, just take a look at the updated Airbnb, which Ive's Loveform firm redesigned. Loveform, by the way, is set to remain a stand-alone company and will, according to The Wall Street Journal, work with OpenAI as a client. The news must sting Apple a little bit. The company, which partnered with OpenAI to include ChatGPT access in Apple Intelligence, has not only failed to deliver its own generative AI, but is falling behind the industry in delivering a true, combined hardware/software AI experience. It'll be fascinating to see what Altman and Ive cook up, and we already have some hints. Altman announced the deal by tweeting that he's "excited to try to create a new generation of AI-powered computers." Taken literally, we might expect an AI PC from the team, but I think here Altman means "computers writ large" in that most intelligent consumer electronics could be considered computing devices. The tweet was accompanied by a video featuring a conversation between Ive and Altman, in which Altman described developing "a family of devices that would let people use AI to create all sorts of different things." Without disclosing the product, Ive revealed that "the first one we've been working on has almost completely captured our imagination." Further, Altman added that Ive handed him the device to take home. "I've been able to live with it and I think it's the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen." No matter what they're building, it's worth remembering that the road to AI hardware success is already littered with the rotting carcasses of failed ventures like Human AI. Regular people have not shown great interest in wearing AI hardware that doesn't align with their current fashion choices. That said, there may be an opportunity for OpenAI, Ive, and Altman in the smart glasses space. It's the one AI-connected device area that appears to be showing some real signs of life. That's mostly down to Meta's efforts with Ray Ban Meta Smart Glasses, but also evidenced by the upcoming influx of Android XR competitors from Google partners Samsung, Warby Parker, and others. Some were announced this week at Google I/O 2025, and all of them will feature Gemini at their core. OpenAI and ChatGPT may be leading in the generative AI space, but Google Gemini is close behind. And if Android XR partners can deliver stylish Gemini Smart Glasses this year, it could quickly vault Gemini into the lead. At the very least, this puts pressure on OpenAI to deliver something. Is Jony Ive the secret sauce that will make ChatGPT AI glasses, earbuds, smart watches, and other consumer hardware possible and desirable? Maybe. OpenAI says we'll see their work next year. Just don't expect a ChatGPT Phone.

OpenAI buys Jony Ive's startup io in $6.5B stock deal

OpenAI just made its biggest move yet -- buying Jony Ive's AI startup -- with hopes of building something that feels as magical as the first iPhone. Initially, it was reported that OpenAI would buy Jony Ive's AI startup, simply named "io", for $500 million. To say that the actual sale cost was a bit higher would be an understatement. The final sale price wound up being nearly $6.5 billion -- in stock. Bloomberg points out that OpenAI is paying $5 billion in equity for io. The balance of the nearly $6.5 billion stems from a partnership in late 2024 that involved OpenAI acquiring a 23% stake in io. The purchase now marks OpenAI's largest acquisition and signals the AI research and deployment company's transition into creating hardware. The deal is expected to be finalized in the coming months, assuming it passes regulatory approvals. The deal is expected to add 55 new employees to OpenAI, including hardware engineers, software developers, and manufacturing experts, according to Bloomberg. These new hires will help realize Ive and Altman's vision for a family of devices. A nine-minute-long video posted to OpenAI's website features Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussing how the partnership came to be and what their hopes are going forward. There are many cryptic references to "the device," presumably something that the pair hopes to release as soon as 2026. "Jony recently gave me one of the prototypes of the device for the first time to take home," Altman says. "I've been able to live with it and I think it's the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen." There's no way to know for sure what the device is -- though current speculation points to a voice assistant of some kind. Ive does mention that he believes the world is ready for something entirely new. "The products that we're using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology -- they're decades old," Ive says. "It's just common sense to at least think 'Surely, there's something beyond these legacy products.'" What is certain, however, is how excited the pair seems to be about the deal. "What it means to use technology can change in a profound way," Altman says. "I hope we can bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago." Previously, it was reported in 2024 that Ive had been looking for investors to provide funding of $1 billion for the unknown device, or devices. Subsequently, Laurene Powell Jobs is said to have invested an unknown sum through her Emerson Collective, as have other companies.

OpenAI recruits legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive to work on AI hardware in $6.5B deal

OpenAI has recruited Jony Ive, the designer behind Apple's iPhone, to lead a new hardware project for the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT. OpenAI said it is acquiring io, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion. OpenAI said its CEO Sam Altman had been "quietly" collaborating since 2023 with Ive and his design firm, LoveFrom. Ive worked at Apple for over two decades and is known for his work on iconic iPhone, iMac and iPad designs. Ive was Apple's chief design officer before leaving the company in 2019 to start his own design firm. In a joint letter posted on OpenAI's website Wednesday, Ive and Altman said it "became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company." That's when Ive co-founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. OpenAI said Ive will not become an OpenAI employee and his design collective, LoveFrom, will remain independent but "will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io." Both OpenAI and Ive's design firm are based in San Francisco. Leading the new io division for OpenAI will be longtime executive Peter Welinder, who led robotics research in the startup's early years and more recently has been vice president of its "new product explorations" team that delves into hardware, robotics and other early stage research. © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Sir Jony Ive joins OpenAI in $6.5bn deal to topple iPhone

Apple's former chief designer Sir Jony Ive has joined OpenAI in a $6.5bn (£4.8bn) deal to challenge the iPhone. OpenAI on Wednesday announced the takeover of io Products, a San Francisco start-up founded by Sir Jony and a group of other ex-Apple designers just last year. The takeover paves the way for Sir Jony, the Briton famed for designing some of Apple's most iconic products, to create a new generation of devices that could challenge the iPhone as the dominant piece of modern hardware. Sir Jony seemingly took aim at his previous employer when announcing the new deal, hitting out at the "legacy" products on the market and the "decades old" technology within them. Sam Altman, OpenAI's co-founder and chief, said that io was "formed with the mission of figuring out how to create a family of devices that would let people use AI to create all sorts of wonderful things." Apple shares fell by more than 2pc after the announcement. Sir Jony was Apple's chief designer between 1992 and 2019. He was behind products including the iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad, and was described by Steve Jobs as his "spiritual partner" at the company. The Briton founded io with the backing of Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple's co-founder, and has recruited a team of engineers from the Californian tech giant, including his successor, Scott Cannon. The team has already developed a prototype product based on AI. Mr Altman said: "Jony called one day and said: 'This is the best work our team has ever done.' I mean, Jony did the iPhone, Jony did the MacBook Pro. These are like the defining ways people use technology. It's hard to beat those things. Those are really wonderful." He claimed the prototype was "the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen." Mr Altman added: "AI is such a big leap forward in terms of what people can do that it needs a new kind of computing form factor to get the maximum potential out of it." Sir Jony said: "People have an appetite for something new, which is a reflection on a sort of an unease with where we currently are." The announcement will ramp up the pressure on Apple, which has been struggling to navigate both the shift to AI and Donald Trump's trade war. The company's shares have plunged 19pc since the start of the year amid fears about the impact of tariffs on China, where many of its devices are assembled, and concerns about the slow speed of its product development. While Apple was one of the first tech companies to embrace AI with its voice assistant Siri, rivals have rapidly overtaken it in recent years. Although it licenced ChatGPT last year and promised a radically improved Siri, Apple has struggled to make a success of it. Last month, it admitted that it could not say when the Siri overhaul would be delivered, admitting it would "take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features." Earlier this year, the company suspended an AI feature that created summaries of headlines from the news after complaints from the BBC and others. OpenAI is one of the company's that has stolen a march on Apple in the AI race. It became one of the world's most valuable startups after ChatGPT became an internet sensation, following its launch in November 2023. The company already had a stake in io and will pay $5bn to acquire the remaining shares it doesn't already own. The deal values io at $6.5bn (£4.8bn) and will add around 55 engineers to OpenAI, including Sir Jony. The 58-year-old is likely to receive a significant payout from the deal. Sir Jony was born in Chingford, in the suburbs of London, and studied at Newcastle Polytechnic before moving to San Francisco in the late 1980s. Diagnosed as dyslexic at school, he co-founded a design consultancy one in the US that caught the eye of Apple, which hired him to work full-time. Sir Jony was knighted in 2012 for services to design and enterprise.

Apple's famed design leader Jony Ive is coming to OpenAI

OpenAI is acquiring io, a hardware startup co-founded by Apple (AAPL) design legend Jony Ive, in a deal valued at approximately $6.5 billion, the company announced Wednesday. The all-stock transaction is OpenAI's largest acquisition to date -- and a major signal that OpenAI is moving aggressively beyond software and into the business of building physical devices powered by artificial intelligence. The deal brings OpenAI the full capabilities of io's team, which includes 50-plus hardware engineers and designers, many of whom previously worked on products such as the iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad. With the acquisition, OpenAI now has a dedicated hardware division, positioning it to create consumer-facing AI-native devices that could redefine how people interact with technology. Apple shares fell 1.8% following the news. Meanwhile, the ChatGPT-maker has rapidly evolved from a research-focused lab into one of the most valuable private companies in the world, with a current valuation of $300 billion. While details of the products remain under wraps, reports from The Wall Street Journal suggest that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive's design firm, LoveFrom, have spent the past two years secretly developing a device "that will move consumers beyond screens." Possibilities include: screenless devices, wearable AIs, and camera-based context-aware assistants. "This is a totally new kind of thing," Altman told Bloomberg of the products the companies are working on, which are expected to launch in 2026. He added in the interview that "in the same way that the smartphone didn't make the laptop go away, I don't think our first thing is going to make the smartphone go away." Altman described the project to Bloomberg as an effort to deliver a benchmark in quality and innovation -- "a level that has never happened before." According to the OpenAI CEO, unlocking AI's full potential will require "a new kind of computing form factor." Ive, widely credited for shaping modern consumer technology, said in a statement that he has "a growing sense that everything I've learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place and to this moment." Altman added: "AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world. No one can do this like Jony and his team. What it means to use technology can change in a profound way." Ive's return to consumer tech in partnership with OpenAI comes amid intensifying pressure on Apple to deliver compelling advances in artificial intelligence. While Apple and OpenAI have recently collaborated -- including integrating ChatGPT into Siri and Apple's system-wide writing tools -- the acquisition of io suggests that OpenAI may soon compete more directly with Apple in defining the next generation of consumer tech. "This is a crazy, ambitious thing to make," Altman told Bloomberg. "It will be worth the wait."

Apple Design Legend Jony Ive Joins OpenAI in $6.4 Billion Deal - Decrypt

Get ready for the post-cellphone world. OpenAI today announced the acquisition of io, the year-old AI hardware startup founded by former Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive, in an all-equity deal valued at $6.4 billion. The acquisition aims to integrate io's hardware expertise with OpenAI's research, engineering, and product teams in San Francisco. Ive is renowned for his role in designing iconic Apple products, including the original iMac, an innovative, all-in-one computer that helped establish simple, gorgeous, user-friendly design as the hallmark of a company that was mere months away from bankruptcy when Steve Jobs returned from exile in 1997. The iMac was the first product launched by Jobs, and it helped fuel the company's legendary turnaround, ultimately making Apple the most valuable company in the world by market cap. Now, with a $3 trillion market cap, it has slipped into the #3 spot, trailing Microsoft and Nvidia -- both of whose fortunes rest largely on artificial intelligence. Apple stock dropped nearly 2% today on the news before recovering somewhat. Apple has struggled to keep up with the fast-changing pace of AI, notably with its "Apple Intelligence" features, which promised a raft of AI-driven new features that have yet to be delivered. The OpenAI-io merger aims to leapfrog cellphones and keyboard-based computers with a variety of new wearable devices. In a promotional video keyed to today's announcement, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that he'd been using a prototype of an io device. "Jony called one day and said, 'This is the best work our team has ever done,'" Altman recalled. "Jony gave me one of the prototypes of the device for the first time to take home, and I've been able to live with it, and I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world has ever seen." Added Altman: "The products that we're using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology, they're decades old. So it's just common sense to at least think that surely there's something beyond these legacy products." Ive's secretive company, io, was established with former Apple colleagues Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan. The San Francisco-based io team has approximately 55 hardware engineers, software developers, and manufacturing experts. Following the acquisition, Ive's separate design firm, LoveFrom, will assume design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI's product lineup. "I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment," said Ive. "While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration." The first products resulting from this collaboration are expected to launch in 2026, marking a significant step in OpenAI's expansion into consumer hardware.

OpenAI is buying iPhone designer Jony Ive's AI devices startup for $6.4 billion

OpenAI said on Wednesday that it's buying Jony Ive's AI devices startup io for about $6.4 billion in an all-equity deal that includes its current stake in the company. Ive is taking on "deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io," OpenAI said in a statement. The company said that it is merging with OpenAI, while Ive and his "creative collective" called LoveFrom will stay independent. In a blog post on Wednesday from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive, the pair said that io was founded a year ago by Ive, along with Apple alumni Scott Cannon, Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, who briefly took over Ive's role at Apple after he departed. "The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco," the post said. The purchase is by far OpenAI's largest and comes weeks after the company agreed to buy AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for $3 billion. Prior to that, OpenAI acquired analytics database company Rockset for an undisclosed sum in 2024. Ive announced in 2019 that he was leaving Apple, where he was the longtime chief design officer, to start LoveFrom. The New York Times reported last year that LoveFrom's clients pay the firm up to $200 million a year and that its designers at the time were working on projects for Christie's, Airbnb and Ferrarri. Airbnb said in 2020 that Ive was consulting with the company on hiring and future products. Ive is responsible for designing Apple's most iconic products, including the iPod, iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air. He also helped design Apple's new Cupertino headquarters, called Apple Park, a project that began in 2004 with the campus officially opening in 2019. News of the acquisition comes as OpenAI, which was recently valued at $300 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank, is rushing to stay ahead in the generative AI race, where competitors including Google, Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI are investing heavily and regularly rolling out new products. Part of staying ahead in that race includes shoring up its hardware operations. To further its hardware ambitions, OpenAI hired the former head of Meta's Orion augmented reality glasses initiative in November to lead its robotics and consumer hardware efforts. Caitlin "CK" Kalinowski wrote in an announcement at the time that the role would "initially focus on OpenAI's robotics work and partnerships to help bring AI into the physical world and unlock its benefits for humanity." Also late last year, OpenAI invested in Physical Intelligence, a robot startup based in San Francisco, which raised $400 million at a $2.4 billion post-money valuation. Other investors included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Thrive Capital, Lux Capital and Bond Capital. The startup focuses on "bringing general-purpose AI into the physical world," per its website, and it aims to do this by developing large-scale artificial intelligence models and algorithms to power robots.

iPhone designer Jony Ive joining OpenAI to help develop new devices

Alain Sherter is a senior managing editor with CBS News. He covers business, economics, money and workplace issues for CBS MoneyWatch. Jony Ive, the celebrated former Apple industrial design maven behind the look of the iPhone, iPad and other of the technology giant's products, has joined OpenAI. Ive will help the artificial intelligence company create devices with generative AI capability, according to a video posted on OpenAI's X account on Wednesday. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in the video that a prototype Ive shared with him "is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen."

OpenAI acquires Jony Ive's io Products in $6.5B all-stock deal - SiliconANGLE

OpenAI today announced plans to buy io Products Inc., a consumer electronics startup led by former Apple Inc. chief design officer Jony Ive. The deal reportedly values one-year-old io Products at $6.5 billion. OpenAI, which already has a 23% stake in the startup as a result of an earlier investment, will pay $5 billion worth of shares for the remaining 77%. The transaction is expected to close this summer. In a post on X, OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman wrote that Ive will support the ChatGPT developer's efforts to "create a new generation of AI-powered computers." During his nearly 30-year tenure at Apple, Ive played a key role in designing many iPhone, iPad and MacBook models. He also helped develop the blueprints of the company's $5 billion corporate headquarters. After leaving in 2019, Ive established a design studio called LoveFrom Inc. that counts Airbnb Inc. and Ferrari S.p.A among its clients. The executive launched io Products, the company that OpenAI is acquiring, last year. Its team reportedly includes about 55 engineers, scientists, researchers, physicists and product development professionals. Those staffers will join OpenAI following the acquisition while Ive is set to take on "deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io." LoveFrom, the design studio that Ive launched after leaving Apple, is reportedly also involved in the transaction. It will receive a stake in OpenAI while the ChatGPT developer will become a client of the studio. Last year, The New York Times reported that companies pay LoveFrom up to $200 million per year to support their product design initiatives. According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI teamed up with LoveFrom two years ago to develop a new consumer device. The paper's sources said that the gadget is meant "to move consumers beyond screens". At least one of the product designs that the companies have explored is for a pair of headphones. When rumors of the acquisition first emerged in April, The Information reported that io Products was developing a consumer device with artificial intelligence features and no display. Some of the publication's sources said that the gadget resembles a smartphone. Others indicated that io Products was also considering designing smart home products. According to Bloomberg, the first devices developed through OpenAI's collaboration with Ive are set to launch next year. The former Apple executive is also expected to become involved in other parts of the AI provider's business. That includes the development of future ChatGPT releases. The acquisition comes a few weeks after OpenAI inked another multibillion-dollar acquisition. Earlier this month, it bought developer tooling startup Windsurf in a deal reportedly worth $3 billion. Windsurf, officially Exafunction Inc., provides a code editor that uses AI to automate a range of programming tasks.

OpenAI acquires Jony Ive's hardware firm, io, to create AI devices

The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco. As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io. LoveFrom will remain independent. It became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company. And so, one year ago, Jony founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. Scott Cannon led teams on the Mac and iPad development. Evans Hankey was a senior member of the Apple design team who took over Ive's own role after he left Apple. Tang Tan led design on the iPhone for years. It takes no keen analysis to observe how proven and talented this team is at shipping impactful products. But what are they doing with OpenAI, exactly? The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco. As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io. In other words, io will be making products, plural, for OpenAI, with an undisclosed timeline for release.

Sam Altman and Jony Ive Launch io to Build Devices for AI Era | AIM

OpenAI will acquire Ive's startup LoveFrom in a nearly $6.5 billion all-stock deal. Jony Ive, former Apple design chief, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have announced the formation of a new company, io, focused on building hardware products around artificial intelligence. The announcement marks the next phase of a two-year collaboration between Ive's design firm LoveFrom and OpenAI, which began as a private exploration and has now culminated in a formal merger. OpenAI will acquire Ive's startup in a nearly $6.5 billion all-stock deal, reported Bloomberg. The purchase, OpenAI's largest to date, gives the company a dedicated unit focused on developing AI-powered devices. The io team, led by Ive alongside Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan, includes engineers, technologists, physicists and product development experts, many of whom have worked together for decades. Jony Ive left Apple in 2019 after serving as its longtime chief design officer to launch his own design firm, LoveFrom. The company was formed a year ago to develop new types of computing products that move beyond traditional interfaces. "Computers are now seeing, thinking and understanding," Altman and Ive said in a joint statement. "Despite this unprecedented capability, our experience remains shaped by traditional products and interfaces." With io now merging into OpenAI, the combined teams aim to develop integrated AI hardware and software systems. Jony Ive and LoveFrom will assume creative and design leadership roles across both io and OpenAI. "AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world," said Altman. "No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary." The collaboration stems from shared values and long-standing relationships. Ive said the work reminded him of early years in Silicon Valley. "I am reminded of a time, three decades ago, when I emigrated to America," he said. "As a designer, I was drawn to the exhilarating and innocent optimism of Silicon Valley, to collaborate with people driven to create amazing products that elevate humanity." During his tenure at Apple, Ive played a key role in shaping some of the company's most recognisable products, including the iPhone, iPod, iPad and MacBook Air. He also contributed to the design of Apple Park, the company's headquarters in Cupertino, which opened in 2019 after years of planning that began in 2004. Reflecting on the journey so far, Ive added, "I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment. While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration." OpenAI and io have not disclosed specific product plans, but said their work is centred on building tools that support learning, creativity and exploration.

OpenAI is buying Jony Ive's secretive device start-up in a $10b deal

Los Angeles | OpenAI will acquire the AI device start-up co-founded by Apple veteran Jony Ive in a nearly $US6.5 billion ($10.1 billion) all-stock deal, joining forces with the legendary designer to make a push into hardware. The purchase - the largest in OpenAI's history - will provide the company with a dedicated unit for developing AI-powered devices. Acquiring the secretive start-up, named io, also will secure the services of Ive and other former Apple designers who were behind iconic products such as the iPhone.

OpenAI recruits legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive to work on AI hardware in $6.5B deal

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- OpenAI has recruited Jony Ive, the designer behind Apple's iPhone, to lead a new hardware project for the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT. OpenAI said it is acquiring io, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion. OpenAI said its CEO Sam Altman had been "quietly" collaborating since 2023 with Ive and his design firm, LoveFrom. Ive worked at Apple for over two decades and is known for his work on iconic iPhone, iMac and iPad designs. Ive was Apple's chief design officer before leaving the company in 2019 to start his own design firm. In a joint letter posted on OpenAI's website Wednesday, Ive and Altman said it "became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company." That's when Ive co-founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. OpenAI said Ive will not become an OpenAI employee and his design collective, LoveFrom, will remain independent but "will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io." Both OpenAI and Ive's design firm are based in San Francisco. Leading the new io division for OpenAI will be longtime executive Peter Welinder, who led robotics research in the startup's early years and more recently has been vice president of its "new product explorations" team that delves into hardware, robotics and other early stage research. -- -- -- The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement that allows OpenAI access to part of AP's text archives.

OpenAI recruits legendary iPhone designer to work on AI hardware in $6.5B deal

SAN FRANCISCO -- OpenAI has recruited Jony Ive, the designer behind Apple's iPhone, to lead a new hardware project for the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT. OpenAI said it is acquiring io, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion. OpenAI said its CEO Sam Altman had been "quietly" collaborating since 2023 with Ive and his design firm, LoveFrom. Ive worked at Apple for over two decades and is known for his work on iconic iPhone, iMac and iPad designs. Ive was Apple's chief design officer before leaving the company in 2019 to start his own design firm. In a joint letter posted on OpenAI's website Wednesday, Ive and Altman said it "became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company." That's when Ive co-founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. OpenAI said Ive will not become an OpenAI employee and his design collective, LoveFrom, will remain independent but "will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io." Both OpenAI and Ive's design firm are based in San Francisco. Leading the new io division for OpenAI will be longtime executive Peter Welinder, who led robotics research in the startup's early years and more recently has been vice president of its "new product explorations" team that delves into hardware, robotics and other early stage research. The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement that allows OpenAI access to part of AP's text archives.

OpenAI Is Buying Former Apple Design Chief Jony Ive's New Company for $6.5 Billion. Here's Why

OpenAI is shelling out $6.5 billion for Jony Ive's one-year-old startup, which is called io. The purpose of the deal is to try to create the best gadgets to house artificial general intelligence -- or as Altman said in a video released with a Wednesday announcement, to "let people use AI to create all sorts of wonderful things." Although Ive and Altman haven't shared details on the hardware, whatever form it ultimately takes likely won't look like another iPhone. "AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement. "No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary." Ive is a British-born designer, credited for working on some of Apple's most iconic products, including the Apple Watch, iMac, iPhone, and iPod, among others. Ive left Apple in 2019, but his creative collective LoveFrom began working with Altman and OpenAI two years ago. Last year, Ive founded io, together with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan, and began gathering a team of engineers, technologists, researchers, and product development and manufacturing experts in an effort to develop "products that inspire, empower and enable," according to an announcement. Although LoveFrom will remain independent, the collective and Ive will oversee design and creative responsibilities at OpenAI, The Wall Street Journal reported. "I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment," Ive said in a statement. "While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration. The values and vision of Sam and the teams at OpenAI and io are a rare inspiration."

OpenAI Recruits Legendary IPhone Designer Jony Ive to Work on AI Hardware in $6.5B Deal

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- OpenAI has recruited Jony Ive, the designer behind Apple's iPhone, to lead a new hardware project for the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT. OpenAI said it is acquiring io, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion. OpenAI said its CEO Sam Altman had been "quietly" collaborating since 2023 with Ive and his design firm, LoveFrom. Ive worked at Apple for over two decades and is known for his work on iconic iPhone, iMac and iPad designs. Ive was Apple's chief design officer before leaving the company in 2019 to start his own design firm. In a joint letter posted on OpenAI's website Wednesday, Ive and Altman said it "became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company." That's when Ive co-founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. OpenAI said Ive will not become an OpenAI employee and his design collective, LoveFrom, will remain independent but "will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io." Both OpenAI and Ive's design firm are based in San Francisco. -- -- -- The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement that allows OpenAI access to part of AP's text archives. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

OpenAI to Acquire iPhone Designer Jony Ive's AI Startup in $6.5 Billion Deal

Microsoft (MSFT)-backed ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced plans on Wednesday to acquire io, the artificial intelligence startup launched by former Apple (AAPL) design head Jony Ive. The all-stock deal is valued at just under $6.5 billion, with OpenAI paying $5 billion after accounting for its existing stake in the company. The companies said in a Wednesday blog post that the "creative collective" started by Ive, LoveFrom, started collaborating with OpenAI two years ago. "It became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company," Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in the post. "As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and ios," they said, with plans to debut their first product next year. Altman said on social media Wednesday that the companies aim to "try to create a new generation of AI-powered computers."

'The Coolest Piece of Technology the World Has Ever Seen': OpenAI Is Acquiring Former Apple Designer Jony Ive's Startup for $6.4 Billion

Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are collaborating on new AI-powered technology that could move consumers away from screens. OpenAI is buying io, an AI device startup founded by iPhone designer Jony Ive, in a $6.5 billion all-stock deal as OpenAI attempts to define the AI-powered devices market. OpenAI acquired a 23% stake in io last year and invested in the startup at that time. The acquisition is the largest in OpenAI's history and was announced on Wednesday, mere weeks after OpenAI agreed to buy AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for about $3 billion. The deal is intended to spark a new generation of products for a future where AI technology attains or surpasses human intelligence. As part of the acquisition, Ive and his team of about 55 engineers, designers, and researchers will join OpenAI in creative and design roles that allow them to shape AI devices for consumers. They will build hardware that helps people interact with ChatGPT more intuitively, without having to go on a web browser or an app on their phones. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive have been collaborating for two years on a secretive project to move people beyond screens and into other types of AI-powered devices. The Wall Street Journal reports that the two have been considering AI headphones and other gadgets with cameras. Related: Saying 'Please' and 'Thank You' to ChatGPT Costs OpenAI 'Tens of Millions of Dollars' In a release video on Wednesday announcing the deal, Altman called Ive "the deepest thinker of anyone I've ever met," and Ive complimented Altman in turn, calling him "a visionary." "I think we have the opportunity here to completely reimagine what it means to use a computer," Altman said in the video. While both were quiet about the details of a family of new AI products, they teased that the products were groundbreaking and would arrive sometime next year. Altman went as far as to call one unnamed product he interacted with "the coolest piece of technology the world has ever seen." Related: These Are the Most (and Least) Biased AI Models, According to a New Study Ive started working at Apple in 1992 and played a crucial role in designing the iPhone, iPad, iMac, and other Apple products. He left in 2019 to create his own design firm, LoveFrom, which has since landed deals with Airbnb and Ferrari. Altman has explored AI devices before. In 2020, he invested in the startup Humane, which developed an Ai Pin that fell flat with consumers due to overheating issues and a lagging interface. OpenAI reported last month that ChatGPT had 500 million global weekly users.

OpenAI to Acquire iPhone Designer Jony Ive's Year-old Startup for $6.5B

OpenAI and legendary designer Jony Ive team up to create a new category of A.I.-first consumer devices. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman isn't content with smartphones or laptops as the primary interfaces for A.I. in daily life. Good thing he has Jony Ive, the famed designer behind the iPhone, to help imagine what comes next. In its largest acquisition to date, OpenAI will buy out Ive's year-old hardware startup, LoveFrom's io, in a $6.5 billion deal. The merger, announced today (May 21), brings together Altman and Ive's shared vision to create "a new family of products" built specifically for A.I., according to a blog post from OpenAI. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters "I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment," said Ive, who will take on design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io via his design firm LoveFrom but remain independent from the A.I. company, in a statement. "While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration." Ive was first introduced to OpenAI after his son began experimenting with ChatGPT, he shared in a video accompanying the announcement. That curiosity led to a meeting with Altman, where the two began envisioning new hardware better suited to A.I. -- a collaboration that inspired Ive to found io in 2024. The startup was co-founded by Ive, who left Apple in 2019, along with several former Apple colleagues including Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. All are expected to join OpenAI with io's 55-person team, reporting to OpenAI's vice president of product, Peter Welinder. The company also received early backing from Emerson Collective, the investment firm founded by Laurene Powell Jobs. Though Ive is known for shaping Apple's minimalist design language -- from the iMac and iPad to the iPhone -- both he and Altman stress that their new project is not just another sleek gadget. Instead, they aim to rethink the way we interact with technology. The future device, they say, will be less clunky than a laptop and less screen-focused than a smartphone. "What it means to use technology can change in a profound way," said Altman, adding that he hopes to "bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago." Details about the device remain under wraps. This isn't OpenAI's first foray into consumer hardware -- the company previously integrated its models into Humane's $699 wearable pin, which ultimately failed to gain traction. The startup shut down operations shortly after the product's launch. Still, Altman is already enthusiastic about what's to come. According to OpenAI's video, Ive recently gave him a prototype to test at home. "I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen," said Altman.

OpenAI to buy iPhone designer Jony Ive's AI devices startup

OpenAI is set to acquire Jony Ive's AI devices startup, io, in a significant $6.4 billion all-equity deal, marking its largest acquisition to date. This move follows OpenAI's recent agreement to purchase Windsurf for $3 billion, amidst increasing competition from Google, Anthropic, and xAI.OpenAI said it will buy Jony Ive's AI devices startup io in an all-equity deal for $6.4 billion, including its current stake in the company, according to a report by the Financial Times. Ive and the his creative collective Loveform started collaborating with OpenAI and Sam Altman two years ago, the ChatGPT maker said in a statement. The startup io was created to one year ago to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products. This family of products will allow people to use AI "to create all sorts of wonderful things", Altman said in a video message. The clip indicates that io is ready with the prototype of its first product, which has also won Altman's approval. The AI major stated that io will merging with OpenAI, while Ive and LoveFrom will take on "deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io," OpenAI said. Ive is popular for designing iconic Apple products including the iPod, iPad, iPhone and MacBook Pro. His Loveform has worked with Ferrari and Airbnb in the past. This is OpenAI's largest acquisition so far and comes days after it agreed to buy Windsurf, an artificial intelligence-assisted coding tool, for about $3 billion. This deal is in the backdrop of the rising trend of AI-backed coding assistants. OpenAI itself launched the research preview of its own cloud-based coding assistant called Codex last Friday. Meanwhile, the company is facing mounting challenges in AI from Google, Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI. During the Google I/O 2025, the internet major unleashed another wave of artificial intelligence technology to accelerate a year-long makeover of its search engine, including an AI Mode for the US market. Also Read: Key takeaways from Google I/O 2025: Gemini, Search in focus OpenAI recently finalised a $40 billion financing led by SoftBank Group Corp., which values the company at $300 billion. The AI company is also working restructuring itself into a public benefit corporation, scrapping the idea to transform into a for-profit entity. It is renegotiating a multibillion-dollar deal with Microsoft to allow the ChatGPT maker an IPO in the future, while protecting the software giant's access to cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) models.

OpenAI Teams Up With iPhone Designer Jony Ive As ChatGPT Maker Makes Push Into Hardware, Apple Shares Slide - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple Inc AAPL shares are moving lower Wednesday afternoon following multiple reports that OpenAI is set to acquire Apple Veteran Jony Ive's AI device startup. What Happened: Ive will team up with OpenAI as part of a $6.5 billion all-stock deal in which the ChatGPT maker will acquire Ive's io Products, as reported by Bloomberg and others. The famous designer, best known for his work on the iPhone and other iconic Apple products, will take his AI device development work to OpenAI as the company makes a push into hardware. Ives reportedly said in an interview with OpenAI's Sam Altman that he senses everything he has learned in his legendary career has led him to this moment. Apple shares fell more than 2% on the news as OpenAI is seen as a future competitor to the iPhone maker. The report also indicates that it was thought that Apple and Ives may continue to work on product development together following Ive's departure from Apple in 2019, but a product never came of it. OpenAI will reportedly pay $5 billion for equity in io Products after the two companies reached a deal last year in which OpenAI took a 23% stake in the company. The deal is expected to be completed in the coming months pending regulatory approvals. Along with Ive, OpenAI will add about 55 of io Products' hardware engineers and software developers to the team. The planned products resulting from the tie-up are expected to be unveiled next year. Apple shares have struggled to find momentum in 2025, with shares down approximately 19% year-to-date at last check. Apple has a 52-week high of $260.10 and a 52-week low of $169.21, according to Benzinga Pro. Read Next: Competitor Analysis: Evaluating Apple And Competitors In Technology Hardware, Storage &amp; Peripherals Industry Photo: Shutterstock. AAPLApple Inc$202.68-2.02%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum48.64Growth33.18Quality77.44Value8.43Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

OpenAI Acquires Former Apple Design Chief's AI Device Startup | PYMNTS.com

In a Wednesday (May 21) video, Altman and Ive talked about how their relationship began two years ago. The OpenAI CEO also said that to use ChatGPT today, a user had to turn on a computer, open a web browser, go to ChatGPT's website, type in a query and then wait for an answer. Altman believes there's a better way to access AI. "I think we have the opportunity here to kind of completely reimagine what it means to use a computer," he said. Ive, who led the design of the iPhone, iPod, iPad and Apple Watch, called Altman "a rare visionary" with whom he would like to partner. The result was io, an AI device startup that Ive created in the spring of 2024 with Apple designers Scott Cannon (who co-founded Mailbox), Evans Hankey and Tang Tan to develop a new family of products for the artificial general intelligence (AGI) era. According to a Wednesday Bloomberg report, OpenAI said it was acquiring io for just under $6.5 billion, OpenAI's largest acquisition to date. Io will become the devices division at OpenAI, led by Peter Welinder, who will report to Altman. OpenAI had reportedly considered buying the the startup in April, according to PYMNTS reporting at the time. Ive and LoveFrom, the design company he founded after leaving Apple in 2019, will take over design and creative initiatives at OpenAI but stay as an independent firm. LoveFrom is separate from io. After Ive left Apple, both said they would continue to collaborate, but nothing came from it. Now, OpenAI has stepped into the gap as Apple continues to struggle with deploying generative AI throughout its devices. In afternoon trading, shares of Apple fell 2% to $202.44. For io, Ive and the rest of his 55-person team plan to show "what they've been working on" in 2026.

OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive's io for $6.4B to Pioneer Post-Smartphone Devices | PYMNTS.com

OpenAI has made a bold move into the hardware space with its $6.4 billion acquisition of io, the design-focused startup led by former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive. The deal, which was first reported by the Financial Times, represents a significant bet on devices that could redefine how users interact with artificial intelligence. The acquisition marks OpenAI's full takeover of io, with the ChatGPT developer purchasing the remaining 77% stake in an all-equity transaction valued at $5 billion. OpenAI already held a 23% stake in the company. The transaction brings io's 55 employees under OpenAI's umbrella, although Ive himself will not join as a formal employee, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the Financial Times. OpenAI has indicated that the goal behind the deal is to develop a new category of consumer hardware for the "AGI era," referring to artificial general intelligence -- AI that can perform most tasks as well as or better than humans. "We have the opportunity here to kind of completely reimagine what it means to use a computer," said OpenAI founder Sam Altman in a video announcement. Although Jony Ive will not hold an internal role at OpenAI, he will continue to play a crucial part in shaping the company's product vision. According to Financial Times, OpenAI confirmed that Ive would take on "deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io," leveraging his extensive experience in creating groundbreaking consumer products. His design firm, LoveFrom -- which has collaborated with brands like Ferrari -- will remain independent. Related: OpenAI Eyes Chrome If DOJ Forces Google to Sell Browser, Exec Testifies Ive is best known for his influential role at Apple, where he helped design iconic products such as the iPhone, iPod, and Apple Watch over nearly three decades. After leaving the tech giant in 2019, he maintained a lower public profile while working on architectural and design projects, including a San Francisco office space in Jackson Square. The deal reflects a growing shift among tech leaders toward exploring alternatives to smartphones as the primary interface with AI. Per Financial Times, OpenAI is positioning itself at the forefront of this transition, even as other ventures have struggled. Last year, start-up Humane introduced an AI wearable pin, but the device failed to gain traction and the company was later acquired by HP. This move comes amid a broader rethinking of personal technology. In December, OpenAI entered into a partnership with Apple, integrating ChatGPT into Siri and other tools as part of Apple's AI overhaul initiative, dubbed "Apple Intelligence." While Apple is also working to update Siri, its own efforts have encountered delays. Even Apple executives have begun hinting at a post-smartphone reality. Eddy Cue, the company's services chief, recently told a U.S. court, "You may not need an iPhone 10 years from now, as crazy as it sounds."

Famed iPhone designer and ex-Apple exec Jony Ive joins OpenAI in...

Famed iPhone designer Jony Ive is joining OpenAI after his artificial intelligence hardware startup was acquired by the ChatGPT maker in an all-stock deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion, the company announced on Wednesday. OpenAI's acquisition of Ive's firm, called io, is the largest in the Sam Altman-led company's history. Ive is best known for closely collaborating with Apple's Steve Jobs to develop the company's most famous products. Ive, who left Apple in 2019, will "assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io" as part of the deal, according to a press release. The partnership could put OpenAI in direct competition with Apple, which is still reliant on iPhone sales for the bulk of its revenue. San Francisco-based io had already poached a pair of key ex-Apple executives, Tang Tan, who led the teams responsible for iPhone design and Apple Watch, and Evans Hankey, who took over from Ive as Apple's top designer before leaving in 2023. Both will join Ive at OpenAI. "I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment," Ive said in a statement. "While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration." Apple shares were down more than 2% in trading Wednesday, with losses accelerating after news of the collaboration surfaced. OpenAI will pay $5 billion in stock as part of the transaction. Altman's firm already held a stake in io prior to the takeover. The deal is expected to close this summer pending regulatory approval. In an interview with Bloomberg, Ive and Altman said their first product is expected to debut in 2026. A total of 55 employees, including software developers and hardware engineers, will work for OpenAI under the io umbrella. "AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world," Altman said in a statement. "No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary." Prior to the deal, Altman and Ive were already collaborating on development of an AI-centric device since 2023 - though reports have differed on whether the device is best described as a smartphone, a tablet or an entirely new format. OpenAI recently secured a $300 billion valuation and is locked in heated competition with the likes of Google, Elon Musk's xAI and others to stay ahead in the race to develop advanced AI. Last month, The Information reported that OpenAI had discussed a potential "full acquisition" of Ive's firm.

Apple stock falls amid OpenAI's acquisition of Jony Ive's startup By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Apple shares (NASDAQ:AAPL) slipped 1.7% following reports from Financial Times and Wall Street Journal that OpenAI is acquiring Jony Ive's hardware startup io Products. The move has raised concerns among investors about potential competition in consumer devices. The acquisition, valued at approximately $6.5 billion, positions OpenAI, a company co-founded by Sam Altman, to explore alternatives to smartphones as primary AI access points. Jony Ive, renowned for his role in designing iconic Apple products such as the iPhone and MacBook, left Apple in 2019 and later founded io Products. Ive's departure from Apple to lead creative and design efforts at OpenAI, particularly in the development of consumer devices that aim to shift users away from traditional screens, has evidently caused unease among Apple's investors. OpenAI's partnership with Apple, which saw the integration of ChatGPT into Apple's voice assistant and writing tools in December, was a significant move in what was dubbed the "Apple Intelligence" overhaul. However, the recent acquisition suggests a potential shift in the competitive landscape, with OpenAI possibly emerging as a competitor in the consumer hardware space. The former Apple design chief's influence at OpenAI is expected to extend across the company's ventures, including future versions of ChatGPT, audio features, and other products. The acquisition deal, which also involved OpenAI previously acquiring a 23% stake in io, places Ive at the forefront of a new era of AI-powered devices aimed at moving consumers away from screens. Investors' reactions reflect the potential implications for Apple as it faces a new challenge from a company closely associated with its own AI initiatives. The acquisition underscores the evolving dynamics in the tech industry, where partnerships and competition often intersect, leading to shifts in investor sentiment.

OpenAI recruits iPhone designer Jony Ive to work on AI hardware | BreakingNews.ie

OpenAI has recruited Jony Ive, the designer behind Apple's iPhone, to lead a new hardware project for the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT. OpenAI said it is acquiring io, a product and engineering company co-founded by Mr Ive, in a deal valued at nearly 6.5 billion dollars. OpenAI said its CEO Sam Altman had been "quietly" collaborating since 2023 with Mr Ive and his design firm, LoveFrom. Mr Ive worked at Apple for more than two decades and is known for his work on the iPhone, iMac and iPad designs. Mr Ive was Apple's chief design officer before leaving the company in 2019 to start his own design firm. In a joint letter posted on OpenAI's website on Wednesday, Mr Ive and Mr Altman said it "became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company". That is when Ive co-founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. OpenAI said Mr Ive will not become an OpenAI employee and his design collective, LoveFrom, will remain independent but "will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io". Both OpenAI and Mr Ive's design firm are based in San Francisco.

OpenAI buys iPhone designer Ive's hardware startup, names him creative head

(Reuters) -OpenAI is buying Jony Ive's startup io Products in a $6.5 billion deal and will bring the chief designer of early iPhones on board as creative head to develop devices tailored for the generative artificial intelligence era. LoveFrom, the design firm founded by Ive after leaving Apple, has been working with OpenAI for two years on generative AI devices - an area where startups have stumbled due to high computing demands, including flops such as Humane's AI Pin. With Ive leading design, OpenAI aims to pair the technology behind its popular ChatGPT chatbot with the product design expertise that made devices such as the iPhone bestsellers. The companies did not disclose the financial details of the deal for io, which Ive co-founded a year ago. The all-stock deal was valued at $6.5 billion based on OpenAI's $300 billion valuation, according to a source familiar with the matter. OpenAI had previously owned a 23% stake in the company, according to the source who requested anonymity to discuss private matters. "The products that we're using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology. They're decades old, yeah, and so it's just common sense to at least think surely there's something beyond these legacy products we have," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive said in a video posted on OpenAI's blog. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The news weighed on Apple's shares, which were down 2%. A few companies such as Humane AI and Rabbit have tried to build bespoke devices for the AI era. However, Humane AI, founded by a former Apple executives, struggled with its AI Pin device, which faced criticism for battery life, heat issues, limited functionality and high costs. HP acquired Humane AI's assets, including its AI platform Cosmos, intellectual property and technical talent for $116 million, effectively discontinuing the AI Pin product. Rabbit, on the other hand, has sold more than 100,000 of r1 devices, but reviewers have said functionality remains limited when compared with smartphones. (Reporting by Akash Sriram and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur)