OpenAI Just Bought Ex-Apple Designer’s Hardware Startup For $6.5 billion To Build AI Devices

So yeah, this just happened. OpenAI has acquired io, a quiet hardware startup founded by Jony Ive and a group of former Apple engineers, in a deal reportedly worth around $6.5 billion.

If the name Jony Ive rings a bell, it should. He’s the guy behind the iMac, iPod, iPhone — basically everything you’ve ever held from Apple that felt like it came from the future. And now, his next chapter is unfolding under the OpenAI umbrella.

Except, he’s not actually joining the company.

Instead, his design firm LoveFrom is taking over the design of every OpenAI product: both hardware and software. Not as an external consultant, but as a full creative partner. It’s less of a collaboration and more of a design takeover.

This means Apple’s legendary design philosophy is about to be stitched into the DNA of OpenAI’s future products. And that’s not an exaggeration, Jony Ive is taking a central role in shaping what AI hardware looks and feels like moving forward.

About 55 people from IO are moving to OpenAI. These aren’t interns and consultants. They’re the same folks who’ve built products millions of people use every day. Engineers, manufacturing experts, the whole works. OpenAI isn’t slapping on a hardware team, they’re building one from the inside out.

And it’s not a phone. Not glasses. Not a laptop. It’s something new entirely.

While there are no details of this AI hardware, but the OpenAI CEO is already confident that the company will be able to sell 100 million units of it.

“AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world. No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.” — Sam Altman

The first product is scheduled to launch in 2026, and it’ll be screen-free, pocket-sized, and context-aware — designed more like an ambient presence than a typical device.

Altman and Ive have reportedly been working on prototypes for the last two years. This isn’t a rushed experiment. They have had countless meetings on this idea.

Altman, who’s been testing a version of it, claims it’s “the coolest piece of tech the world will have ever seen.”

Ive’s take is more grounded. He says this moment brings together everything he’s learned about people, design, and tools across three decades. That’s not marketing speak. That’s someone who understands that good tech isn’t just functional — it’s felt.

What’s being built here isn’t meant to replace your smartphone. It’s not here to dominate your attention or slot in as yet another glowing rectangle. It’s meant to sit in the background. To know when to speak. To understand you, your surroundings, and your context — without trying to hijack your day.

That’s what makes it different.

And yes, I know, Humane’s AI Pin said a lot of the same things. But that launch was all ambition, no execution. This one feels like it has the right kind of weight behind it.

Because this team knows how to ship. Jony Ive isn’t guessing his way through product development. He’s shipped culture-defining hardware — not once, but over and over again.

And OpenAI? They’re not waiting for the tech to catch up. GPT-4o is already capable of understanding language, vision, audio, and context in real-time. The software’s ready. The models are here. All they needed was a body to put them in.

Plus, they’re taking their time. This isn’t a panic launch racing to meet a funding deadline. The timeline stretches to 2026 and that patience says more than any press release ever could.

This shift is bigger than a single product. It means OpenAI is now playing in the consumer tech space. They really want to challenge Google after their successful tech event.

They’re not just building language models anymore, they’re building things you can carry, wear, touch. Until now, OpenAI lived on screens. Now they’re stepping into the physical world, with the guy who designed the iPhone at their side.

It’s ambitious. It’s risky. But if you believe AI is the next platform and let’s be honest, it is, then making the right interface for it isn’t optional. It’s necessary.

And this? This might be the first real shot at doing it right.

Let’s just hope this one doesn’t turn out to be another $699 assistant that tells you the weather and forgets your name.

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