OpenAI is set to acquire the AI device startup co-founded by Apple Inc. veteran Jony Ive in an all-stock transaction valued at nearly $6.5 billion, collaborating with the renowned designer to venture into hardware.
This acquisition — the most significant in OpenAI’s history — will establish a dedicated division for the development of AI-driven devices. By acquiring the enigmatic startup, known as io, the company will also gain the expertise of Ive and other former Apple designers responsible for creating iconic products like the iPhone.
“I have a growing sense that everything I’ve learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place and to this moment,” Ive said in a joint interview with OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman. “It’s a relationship and a way of working together that I think is going to yield products and products and products.”
Ive was characterised as the spiritual partner of Steve Jobs
For the designer born in Britain, this transition signifies a prominent re-entry into a consumer technology sector that he played a significant role in establishing. Having collaborated for many years with Steve Jobs, he was instrumental in shaping the design and user experience of the contemporary smartphone, as well as the iPod, MacBook, iPad, and Apple Watch. He departed from Apple in 2019.
After Ive’s departure from Apple, CEO Tim Cook suggested that the two entities would continue to collaborate. However, no product was launched together following Ive’s exit. Currently, the designer is initiating a new partnership with Altman, whom he referred to as a “rare visionary.”
Ive was previously characterized by Jobs as his “spiritual partner,” and his new role in designing competing technology products may be interpreted as an unfavorable sign for Apple — a company that is already facing challenges in the AI sector. During the interview, Altman remarked that Jobs would be “damn proud” of Ive’s recent decision.
Altman stated that OpenAI is set to develop a product of a quality that has never been developed before in consumer hardware. AI is such a big leap forward in terms of what people can do that it needs a new kind of computing form factor to get the maximum potential out of it,” added Altman.
