OpenAI enters the hardware market, making a huge acquisition of io and collaborating with the former Apple team to create AI dream devices.

According to Bloomberg, OpenAI will enter the hardware field with the legendary designer by acquiring io, an artificial intelligence device startup co-founded by Apple veteran designer Jony Ive, in an all-stock deal of nearly $6.5 billion.

Artificial intelligence device startup io founded by Apple designer Jony Ive

Jony Ive is a British-American designer who served as Apple's Chief Designer, responsible for designing many iconic products such as the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. His design philosophy emphasizes simplicity, elegance, and functionality, profoundly influencing the aesthetics of modern technology products.

Ive founded the design company LoveFrom after leaving Apple in 2019, and has collaborated with brands such as Ferrari and Airbnb.

He co-founded the artificial intelligence device startup io in 2023 with other former Apple designers, focusing on developing AI-driven consumer devices.

Will the ChatGPT interface undergo a major overhaul? The first product is expected to debut in 2026.

This acquisition is OpenAI's largest acquisition to date, which will provide the company with a dedicated department for developing artificial intelligence devices. The acquisition of the mysterious startup named io will also secure the services of Ive and other former Apple designers involved in the design of iconic products like the iPhone.

The deal is expected to close this summer, pending regulatory approval. The IO acquisition will bring about 55 hardware engineers, software developers, and manufacturing experts to OpenAI — a team that will build the range of devices Ive and Altman expect, who have spent about two years exploring some early ideas, with the first device expected to debut in 2026.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ( stated that OpenAI will create a "high-quality product unprecedented in the consumer hardware space." He said:

In terms of human capability, artificial intelligence represents a huge leap forward, requiring a new form of computation to fully realize its potential.

Although Ive and LoveFrom will remain independent, they will take over all of OpenAI's designs, including its software. Altman stated that his first conversation with Ive was not about hardware, but about how to improve the interface of ChatGPT, suggesting that a significant overhaul of ChatGPT can also be expected in the future.

This article by OpenAI into hardware, huge acquisition of io and former Apple team to build AI dream devices first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.