OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) is purchasing legendary Apple (AAPL) designer Jony Ive’s startup, io, in an effort to develop a new family of products that take advantage of generative AI technologies.
“The products that we’re using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology, they’re decades old,” Ive said in a prerecorded video released by OpenAI.
“And so it’s just common sense to at least think, surely there’s something beyond these legacy products,” he added
The $6.5 billion deal will see Ive’s io merge with OpenAI, according to Bloomberg.
Ive famously oversaw the design of Apple’s original colorful iMac, as well as products like the iPad, Apple Watch, and, most importantly, the iPhone. He left his position as chief design officer at Apple in 2019 to start his own design company called LoveFrom.
Ive later founded io with his Apple successor, Evans Hankey, as well as Tang Tan and Scott Cannon, who also worked at Apple.
“AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world,” Altman said in a statement. “No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.”
According to OpenAI, Ive and LoveFrom will assume design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io and plan to share their work next year.
Rumors have swirled for some time that OpenAI was working on a new kind of AI-powered device that will replace the smartphones we use everyday, but doing so will take an enormous effort.
Smartphone makers sell hundreds of millions of devices each year. And while sales are no longer growing as they once did, it’s still an incredibly lucrative business for Apple and Samsung, which dominate the space.
Tech companies are torn on what the next major step in consumer technology will be.
Meta and Google are leaning into augmented reality and AI-powered smart glasses, with Google announcing new partnerships for its own eyewear during its I/O conference on Tuesday. Meta already sells its Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Apple is also reportedly working on its own smart glasses.
We’ve also seen early attempts at AI-focused gadgets, including the Rabbit R1 and Humane pin, but neither caught on with consumers. Humane sold its technology to HP in February.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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