OpenAI announced it is recruiting Jony Ive, who is known as the designer behind the Apple iPod, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, and MacBook Pro. Jony Ive will oversee a new hardware project for OpenAI. As part of the deal, OpenAI will be buying io Products for $6.5 billion, which is a product and engineering company that was co-founded by Ive.
Prior to this deal, OpenAI already had a 23% stake in io from a previous collaboration agreement. And OpenAI will pay $5 billion in equity to buy the remaining stake.
OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman said that two years ago, he started talking with Jony about what the future of AI and new kinds of computers was going to look like. At the time, Altman was running OpenAI and Ive was running a design company called LoveFrom. And it became apparent to them that they needed to launch a third company. About a year ago, Ive founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan. Now the company is merging with OpenAI to create a family of devices that would let people use AI to improve their lives.
Ive recently gave Altman a prototype of the company’s first device. Altman said it is “the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.”
Ive said that his son Charlie was the first person in his family to use OpenAI’s ChatGPT and suggested that he meet with Sam. Shortly after meeting, they realized they both had a powerful shared vision and a shared sense of values about what technology should be used for.
As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will oversee deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io. The hardware device being discussed is expected to be announced in 2026.
The new io division for OpenAI will be headed by Peter Welinder. Welinder has been working on the robotics research at OpenAI over the last few years.
In a Wall Street Journal report, Altman reportedly told his staff that the company plans to ship 100 million AI companion devices that could become part of everyday life.
Below is a video of Altman and Ive discussing the deal:
KEY QUOTES:
“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; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.”
“What it means to use technology can change in a profound way. I hope we can bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.”
Sam Altman
“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. The values and vision of Sam and the teams at OpenAI and io are a rare inspiration.”
“I am reminded of a time, three decades ago, when I emigrated to America. 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.”
Jony Ive
