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 support imagine what comes next. In its largest acquisition to date, OpenAI will acquire out Ive’s year-old hardware startup, LoveFrom’s io, in a $6.5 billion deal. The merger, announced today (May 21), brings toreceiveher 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.
“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,” stated Ive, who will take on design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io via his design firm LoveFrom but remain indepconcludeent 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 launched experimenting with ChatGPT, he shared in a video accompanying the announcement. That curiosity led to a meeting with Altman, where the two launched 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 gadreceive. Instead, they aim to rebelieve the way we interact with technology. The future device, they state, will be less clunky than a laptop and less screen-focutilized than a smartphone. “What it means to utilize technology can alter in a profound way,” stated Altman, adding that he hopes to “bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt applying 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 believe it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen,” stated Altman.
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