OpenAI and Jony Ive are moving their AI hardware partnership into public view, with plans for a device that is meant to sit outside the familiar categories of smartphones and smart glasses.
The project brings together OpenAI, Ive's AI hardware startup io, and his design studio LoveFrom. Its stated ambition is not simply to make another gadget, but to rethink how people use computers when AI models and agents become central to the experience.
What OpenAI and Jony Ive are building
The clearest detail is what the product is not. According to details published after the partnership became official, the upcoming AI device is not designed as a smartphone and is not designed as smart glasses.
Instead, the companies are aiming for a new hardware category built around close integration between AI software and physical design. The concept described in the source is a device that can understand the user's life and environment, stay portable and discreet, and become a central way to interact with OpenAI models.
Sam Altman described the product as a "third core device" alongside the MacBook Pro and iPhone. That framing matters because it places the project next to personal computing devices people already use every day, rather than treating it as a small accessory or a one-off experiment.
The project may also extend beyond one product. Altman said the work would involve a "family of devices," which suggests OpenAI and io are thinking in terms of a broader hardware system rather than a single release.
Why the partnership matters
OpenAI is partnering with io, the AI hardware startup led by former Apple designer Jony Ive. Ive founded io in 2024 with several former Apple colleagues, including Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan.
LoveFrom, Ive's design studio, will lead design work for both io and OpenAI under the partnership. The teams also plan to work more closely together in San Francisco.
The collaboration itself was not sudden. OpenAI and io had been quietly working together since 2023 before making the partnership official. That gives the project a longer runway than a newly announced idea, even though the first product has not yet launched.
The companies have described the goal as a way to "completely reimagine" how people interact with computers. Based on the source, the first product will likely emphasize language-based interaction with AI agents, placing conversation and assistance closer to the center of the computing experience.
The scale OpenAI is discussing
The hardware plans are tied to large business expectations. According to an internal audio recording obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Altman told employees that the $6.5 billion deal could increase OpenAI's enterprise value by $1 trillion.
The long-term goal is also large: ship 100 million of these devices. The source describes that as faster than any company has ever brought a new product of this scale to market.
Those numbers show how OpenAI appears to be thinking about the device. This is not being presented as a niche prototype. It is being framed as a consumer-scale product line with the potential to become a major way people access OpenAI models.
The first release is scheduled for the end of next year, while earlier details said the first product is expected to launch in 2026. The source does not provide a product name, final form factor, or complete feature list.
What is known, and what is still open
The available details point to several grounded takeaways:
- The device is intended to be distinct from smartphones and smart glasses.
- It is meant to be portable and discreet.
- It is designed around deep integration with AI software.
- It is expected to serve as a main interface for OpenAI models.
- The work may become a "family of devices" rather than one standalone product.
Previous reports suggested the hardware could act as an AI assistant, similar to the technology imagined in the sci-fi film "Her." That comparison points toward a more personal form of interaction, but the source does not say the final device will match that fictional model in detail.
Jony Ive called the effort a "new design movement." In practical terms, the phrase reflects the project's stated focus on combining hardware design, AI software, and new interaction patterns rather than adapting existing device categories.
For now, the most important fact is the direction: OpenAI and Ive are trying to create an AI device category that does not depend on the phone or glasses as its defining frame. Whether that becomes a new everyday computing device will depend on what the companies reveal when the first product arrives.