On Wednesday, Openai announced it had acquired a startup from iPhone designer Jony Ive, a huge win for the company.
According to Bloomberg, IVE’s startup called IO, with a purchase price of nearly $6.5 billion, which will make it by far the largest acquisition of Openai. The official announcement does not include too many details, mainly including the influx of Altman and Ive.
“Two years ago, Jony Ive and creative collective love quietly began working with the teams of Sam Altman and OpenAi. Built in collaboration with friendship, curiosity and shared values, it grew rapidly in ambition. Temporary ideas and exploration evolved into tangible designs that made ideas important. New tools helped us learn, explore and create… We put together the best hardware and software engineers, the best technicians, physicists, scientists, researchers, researchers and experts, and many of us work closely on the IO team, focusing on decades.
Fortunately, the accompanying video posted on OpenAI’s X page has more specific information.
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There are a lot of stuff out there, too, but the point is Openai, which will work with IVE and his IO team to make AI-powered devices. Altman said in the video that the initiative is “a mission to figure out how to create a family of devices that can allow people to create all kinds of wonderful things with AI.”
Mixable light speed
Ultraman also shared that he had a prototype of the prototype developed by Ive and his team, calling it “the coolest technology in the world.”
As early as 2023, it was reported that Openai cooperated with IVE to cooperate for some AI-first devices. Altman and Ive’s Bromance are about the idea of developing AI devices beyond the current limits of cell phone and computer hardware. “The products we use to deliver and connect us to unbelievable technologies, they’re decades old, so at least think there’s something beyond these old products.”
I’m known for my work at Apple, where he led the design of iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Steve Jobs even described me as his “spiritual companion.”
Openai entered the hardware with legendary designers, which shows that the company shows there is no sign of slowing down in dreaming of new products. Just yesterday, Google launched a fleet of AI products including XR hardware, noting to some that it has caught up with Openai. But Openai just unlocked another new territory in the AI game. Openai said it plans to share its work with IO and IVE starting from 2026.
Disclosure: Mashable’s parent company Ziff Davis filed a lawsuit against Openai in April, accusing it of infringing on Ziff Davis’ copyright in training and operating its AI systems.
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