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OpenAI and Jony Ive Tease Screenless AI Devices as Apple Talent Flows to New Hardware Push

A multibillion-dollar share deal and a growing team signal a serious move into consumer hardware.

Overview

  • At an Emerson Collective event, Sam Altman and Jony Ive described prototypes as pocketable, screenless, highly contextual, and designed to reduce distraction.
  • Timing remains unsettled, with coverage citing targets ranging from next year to within roughly two years, and no final form factor confirmed.
  • Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported OpenAI hired more than 40 people for its devices group in the past month, many directly from Apple across camera, chip, hardware, software, and human factors teams.
  • Reporting says OpenAI acquired Ive’s firm io in an estimated $6.4 billion share transaction, with about $5 billion going to Ive and investors including Laurene Powell Jobs.
  • Altman and Ive said the plan is a family of AI devices with strong, proactive contextual awareness rather than a single product.