OpenAI acquired the former Apple designer’s startup io for $6.5 billion, while Jony Ive himself will now take on a leadership role in the AI company in terms of creativity and design.
It has long been rumored that Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are creating a new generation device for AIand the new agreement has only confirmed them. It should be noted that the team faces a difficult task, as previous developments by third-party companies have not been successful — remember the problematic AI Pin, which was originally Humane promoted as a smartphone killerbut eventually shut down production and sold the remaining stock to HP (By the way, Altman was among the original investors in Humane).
According to WSJThe work on the new Altman-Iva device has been going on for about two years, and any details are classified. Some sources say that headphones and smartphone-like camera devices are among the potential products being considered.
Ive, who was responsible for the design of the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air and helped create Apple’s new headquarters in Cupertino called Apple Park, left the company in 2019 and founded his own design company LoveFromwho has worked on projects for Christie’s, Airbnb, and Ferrari. The company’s website lists designer Mark Newson as one of the founders, but there’s no mention of what the company does, nor is there any mention of io.
io’s staff of approximately 55 engineers, scientists, researchers, physicists, and product development specialists will become part of OpenAI, while LoveFrom will continue to operate independently — will keep the ChatGPT developer among its customers and allegedly get its own stake in it (the deal is expected to close this summer, after regulatory approval)
«I have a growing sense that everything I’ve learned over the past 30 years has led me to this moment», — said Ive in the statementwhile Altman said he hopes the new team will be able to «bring some of the creative spirit he first experienced with an Apple computer 30 years ago».
OpenAI will pay only $5 billion for the deal, as it already owns 23% of io. The acquisition is undoubtedly the largest in the history of ChatGPT, having previously acquired the artificial intelligence-based coding tool Windsurf for $3 billion and the analytical database company Rockset for an undisclosed amount.
The first devices after the acquisition should be launched in 2026, but Altman clarifies that they are not intended to destroy the iPhone.
«Just as the smartphone did not make laptops disappear, our first product will not make smartphones disappear», — He said in a commentary Bloomberg. «This is a completely new kind of thing… Johnny recently gave me one of the prototype devices so I could take it home and I could live with it. I think it’s the coolest piece of technology the world has ever seen».
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