Topline
Jony Ive, Apple’s former head of design, will take over design at OpenAI after the Sam Altman-led company acquired Ive’s hardware startup in a deal valued at $6.5 billion, with the new pairing expected to unveil a product within the next year as a potential competitor to Ive’s former employer.
OpenAI’s Sam Altman called Ive, who designed several Apple products, the “greatest designer in the … More
Key Facts
Altman and Ive announced OpenAI’s acquisition of Ive’s io in a statement Wednesday, noting Ive, including his design firm LoveFrom, “quietly began collaborating” with OpenAI in 2023, with discussions at the time over releasing headphones and other devices with cameras, people familiar with the talks told the Wall Street Journal.
Ive won’t join OpenAI’s staff as part of the deal and his LoveFrom firm will continue to operate independently, Bloomberg reported, though Ive’s design firm will “take over design for all of OpenAI, including its software,” as about 55 hardware engineers, software developers and manufacturing experts join OpenAI from io.
OpenAI entered talks with SoftBank and Ive in a potential $1 billion deal to produce the “iPhone of artificial intelligence” in 2023, the Financial Times reported, as Altman and Ive discussed products that would give consumers a “more natural and intuitive user experience for interacting with AI.”
Altman told OpenAI employees Wednesday he and Ive plan to release AI “companions” that would be aware of a user’s surroundings and life, could be placed in a pocket or on a desk and be the third device used alongside products like a MacBook Pro or iPhone, according to a recording obtained by the Journal.
Ive—who called early AI devices like the Human Ai Pin “very poor products”—and Altman told Bloomberg their new device would allow consumers to connect with AI in “very new ways,” as Altman suggested their first product won’t “make the smartphone go away” and be a “totally new kind of thing.”
The pair may also design new computers: Altman, who called Ive the “greatest designer in the world,” wrote on X he was “excited to try and create a new generation of AI-powered computers.”
Apple Shares Down In 2025 As It Faces Ai Challenges
Apple, whose shares have declined more than 17% in 2025, advertised the release of its iPhone 16 last year with details about the company’s new “Apple Intelligence.” The company announced earlier this year it would delay the new AI features to 2026, after it disabled Apple Intelligence summaries for news apps when some users discovered the company’s AI system inaccurately displayed story facts. Apple was sued in March by consumers alleging the company falsely advertised its AI features, with “a clear and reasonable consumer expectation” that AI would be available at the iPhone’s release, according to a filing in the U.S. District Court in San Jose (Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes). Ive has reportedly expressed interest in developing an AI device for years, telling Bloomberg early AI devices like the Human Ai Pin are “very poor products.” Ive co-founded io in September 2023, as it “became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company,” Ive and Altman wrote.
What To Watch For
The first device by Ive and Altman is expected to debut in 2026, they told Bloomberg.
Who Is Jony Ive?
Ive, who previously worked for a London-based design firm, joined Apple in 1992 and was later tapped as Apple’s head of design. Ive is credited with designing several Apple products, including the company’s iMac in 1998, the iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007, the iPad in 2010 and the Apple Watch. He also designed Apple’s 175-acre campus, Apple Park, which opened in Cupertino, California, in 2017. After Ive announced in 2019 he would leave the company to debut his design firm, LoveFrom, Apple CEO Tim Cook applauded Ive for his tenure at the company and said Ive’s “role in Apple’s revival [in the 1990s]
cannot be overstated.”
Key Background
OpenAI’s talks to acquire io were first reported in March. The companies were said to be developing a device that would include technology from the movie “Her,” a 2013 film in which the main character develops a relationship with a voice AI companion. OpenAI and io agreed to a partnership last year that involved OpenAI acquiring a 23% stake in the company, according to Bloomberg. The acquisition is the latest by OpenAI in the company’s apparent push to release physical devices, following the release of its popular AI chatbot ChatGPT in 2022, after the company hired the former head of Meta’s augmented reality glasses project in November. That same month, OpenAI reportedly invested in the robot startup Physical Intelligence.
