Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman Are Working on a Top-Secret AI Device

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman are working on a top-secret AI computing project

Former Apple design chief Ive is teaming up with Altman, CEO of the company behind ChatGPT and Dall-E, to create a new AI-powered computing device that aims to be “less socially disruptive than the iPhone.” New York Times.

Few details are known about the device, but Ive and Altman reportedly raised funding for the project from investors including Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The funding could reach as much as $1 billion by the end of the year.

Ive’s design firm LoveFrom, which he founded after leaving Apple five years ago, is behind the development of the AI-powered device. The company, co-founded by famed luxury designer Mark Newson, who worked on the Apple Watch, employs other former Apple executives, including Tang Tan, who oversaw iPhone development. LoveFrom works with clients including Airbnb and Ferrari.

“What the product will be and when it will be released is still being determined,” Newson told the Times.

The partnership began when Ive and Altman spoke at a dinner and later dinners about the power of generative AI and its potential for computing devices, the report said.

The concept of an AI-powered hardware device coming to market follows a handful of similar computing devices that have yet to be released. Humane’s $700 AI pin — which turns surface areas, including your hand, into a mobile screen — has been met with mixed reviews, with people reportedly returning the product in large numbers. Meanwhile, it’s $199 Rabbit R1 handheld device Those who used AI to complete tasks also fell short of expectations.

But at a time when we are so distracted by mobile devices, a device that offers a more mindful, less distracting experience could be appealing to consumers.