Jony Ive’s OpenAI Device May Be the Most Hyped Product Ever. So, What Do We Know About It?

There have been plenty of famously hyped consumer products throughout history.

And yet, I feel confident that even the most prominent examples, like the Segway, soon won’t hold a candle to the wildfire of anticipation OpenAI—the technology firm behind ChatGPT— just sparked for its eventual hardware debut.

A Union Two Years in the Making

Gear Patrol via ChatGPT

The hype wave in question stems from OpenAI’s acquisition/union of the product design studio, io, in a deal valued at $6.5 billion.

Io was formed just two years ago and includes Jony Ive—who once held the title of Chief Design Officer at Apple and is credited as the co-designer of the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods—among its founding members, in addition to Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan, whom Ive describes as “the most extraordinary engineers.”

Together, they built a team that according to Ive, consists of “remarkable subject matter experts that range from hardware and software engineering, physicists, researchers, and product manufacturing experts.”

After working somewhat behind the scenes with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on a not-so-secret AI hardware project for a few years, the startup “will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco,” according to OpenAI’s official statement on the matter.

However, Ive’s not officially joining the company, though he and his creative consultancy, LoveFrom, which was developed in partnership with Marc Newsom, “will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io.”

Bold Words Over Coffee

Gear Patrol via ChatGPT

Though I mentioned the news came from an official statement from OpenAI, the truth is that the news of the union was shared in a very unconventional way.

The ‘statement’ was actually a letter posted at the URL openai.com/sam-and-jony/, apparently written by both OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Jony Ive.

The announcement also included a 9:21-minute video that starts with Ive and Altman separately walking through San Francisco, accompanied by voice-over of each of them sharing what makes the other person so special. They eventually meet at a local establishment and have a chat while enjoying espresso.

Throughout the video, a slew of the most (potentially) hyperbolic statements I’ve ever encountered in any corporate-created media asset are casually dropped by both Ive and Altman.

Here’s just a smattering of quotes sprinkled throughout the conversation.

“I think we have the opportunity here to kind of completely reimagine what it means to use a computer.” (Altman)

“We are sitting at the beginning of what I believe will be the greatest technological revolution of our lifetimes.” (Altman)

“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place, to this moment.” (Ive)

“You know, Jony called one day and said this is the best work our team has ever done. I mean, Jony did the iPhone, Jony did the MacBook Pro. I mean, these are like defining ways people use technology. It’s hard to beat those those things. Those are all really wonderful.” (Altman)

“Jony recently gave me one of the prototypes of the device for the first time to take home, and I’ve been able to live with it, and I think it it the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.” (Altman)

So, What Do We Actually Know About the Product?

OpenAI

The honest answer is not all that much right now, although original reporting and aggregation from outlets like The Wall Street Journal, The Verge and Bloomberg do provide early hints.

Outlet’s have noted Ive’s previous statements calling last year’s crop of AI-powered smart pins “very poor products.”

Altman has also mentioned in interviews with Bloomberg that he doesn’t expect OpenAI’s hardware to replace or kill existing devices like laptops or smartphones. But he has also suggested that the product isn’t a clone of those formats or another existing piece of hardware. The same reporting suggests that the first device could launch in 2026.

The Wall Street Journal also reviewed details about the device directly shared by Altman with OpenAI’s team during an internal staff call discussing the acquisition of io that aligns with Altman’s earlier comments.

According to the WSJ’s reporting, the first product is envisioned as a “third core device” working alongside phones and laptops. It is also said to be aware of a user’s personal details and surroundings.

Altman explicitly stated that the hardware isn’t glasses on the call. Combined with Ive’s previous statements about his regrets about the iPhone’s ‘unintended consequences’ – i.e., screen addiction—the odds are strong that the upcoming OpenAI hardware will lean away from touchscreens and/or a visual-based UI.

Humane

Altman, not that surprisingly, was also apparently bullish on the internal staff call regarding his expectations for the hardware according to the WSJ, stating that sales will be “faster than any company has ever shipped 100 million of something new before.”

However, both Altman and Ive have also clarified that the partnership isn’t centered around creating just one magical device.

Instead, they see the mission as “figuring out how to create a family of devices that would let people use AI to create all sorts of wonderful things,” according to the released video announcing OpenAI’s acquisition of io.

“The first one we’ve been working on, I think, has just completely captured our imagination,” Ive later added.

Altman, for his part, also seemingly has strong feelings about making the hardware extremely accessible, though who knows how that will actually translate in terms of final pricing.

Sunglass Hut

“I feel I owe this city such an enormous debt of gratitude. I want this to be democratized. I want everybody to have it. I don’t want it to be the tiny percentage of the population that figures out how to use bad tools and is really smart. I want anybody to say, hey, I have this idea. Make it happen,” he states in the io acquisition video.

He then added, “I think this will be one of these moments of just an absolute embarrassment of riches of what people go create for collective society.”

“I am absolutely certain that we are literally on the brink of a new generation of technology that can make us our better selves.”

Several AI hardware companies have already made bold claims about gadgets that will change how we live and interact with computers, only to fail spectacularly.

Now, the wait is officially on to see if Altman, Ive, and the rest of the OpenAI/io team can finally deliver the goods.

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