What do you mean OpenAI want to compete with iPhones?

«I think it’s the most beautiful tech product the world has ever seen.» That’s how Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, described the new, mysterious device he’s developing with Jony Ive, former Apple designer. The partnership between the man who shaped the iPhone as we know it and the creator of the world’s most powerful and famous generative artificial intelligence began after Ive sold his hardware startup to OpenAI in a $6.5 billion deal. Jony Ive will now serve as creative director for both companies, leading the development of the device Altman is so enthusiastic about. But what will this device be and how will it work? The answers are still speculative rather than concrete, but according to the Wall Street Journal, Altman said, «OpenAI plans to produce 100 million AI-powered ‘companions’ designed to become part of users’ everyday lives.» According to the Guardian, the product will be “subtle” and able to fully understand the user’s environment and lifestyle. In other words, Altman and Ive are designing a device meant to become the third essential gadget to sit on your desk, next to a MacBook Pro and an iPhone. In an interview with the Guardian, tech analyst Benedict Evans said Jony Ive was brought on to help OpenAI and Altman enter the device market and «become the next Apple or Google.»

For now, speculation mostly revolves around what the OpenAI device will not be. Altman and Ive released a 9-minute video on YouTube discussing their collaboration: «Two years ago, Jony and I started imagining what the future of AI and a new kind of computer could look like,» Altman explains. He goes on to say that the mission of both companies (io and OpenAI) is to «create a family of devices that allow people to use artificial intelligence.» According to the Wall Street Journal, however, the first member of this family won’t be a phone or smartglasses, but rather a portable device to carry at all times. Ming-Chi Kuo, a well-known tech analyst with a track record of predicting Apple launches, wrote on X that, based on his estimates, OpenAI’s device will launch starting in 2027 and be «as compact and sleek as the iPod Shuffle,» equipped with cameras but no screen.

A similar product already exists: in 2023, the company Humane launched the AI Pin, a pager-like device powered by artificial intelligence. Humane and the AI Pin were funded by Sam Altman but were widely criticized for poor performance. However, it’s unlikely that the new product will follow the same path, especially since Jony Ive recently called those devices «terrible,» both in design and software. The collaboration between Altman and Ive is therefore an attempt to redefine the interaction between humans and AI, shifting the focus away from traditional screen-based devices toward more integrated and less invasive solutions, reviving the idea of a “post-smartphone” world. Time will tell whether this new device will succeed in winning over the public and truly setting a new standard in the tech landscape.