OpenAI announced on Wednesday that it’s acquiring io, the AI hardware startup founded by legendary designer Jony Ive, in an all-equity deal valued at around $6.4 billion.
Ive and his close-knit team of about 55 engineers, designers, and researchers will officially join OpenAI. Their mission? To create a new category of consumer hardware, intuitive, sleek, and built around AI tools like ChatGPT.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive have reportedly been working together secretly for the past two years, developing concepts for devices that could replace or at least reduce our reliance on screens. The Wall Street Journal even reported that it includes exploring products like AI-powered headphones and gadgets with built-in cameras.
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In a launch video shared on Wednesday, Altman praised Ive, saying he is “the deepest thinker of anyone I've ever met,” while Ive described Altman as “a visionary.”
{{/usCountry}}In a launch video shared on Wednesday, Altman praised Ive, saying he is “the deepest thinker of anyone I've ever met,” while Ive described Altman as “a visionary.”
{{/usCountry}}“I think we have the opportunity here to completely reimagine what it means to use a computer,” Altman added in the video.
OpenAI and Jony Ive to tease ‘coolest tech ever’
They also hinted at a new family of AI devices that could launch as early as next year. Altman even teased one prototype he’s tried, calling it “the coolest piece of technology the world has ever seen.”
During his more than two decades at Apple, I've led the design of the iPhone, iPad, iMac, and MacBook. After leaving Apple in 2019, his new design firm, LoveFrom, has worked with companies such as Ferrari and Airbnb.
Ive will take on “deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io,” the company said in a statement. While io is set to become part of OpenAI, Ive’s independent design firm, LoveFrom, will remain separate and continue its own operations.
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“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 CEO Sam Altman and Ive shared in a co-authored blog post.