• OpenAI is acquiring device startup io for $6.5 billion.
• It is a startup that Jony Ive and Sam Altman have been working on for two years.
• The startup plans to reveal a product next year, with details sounding a lot like the Humane AI Pin.

If you have been craving new hardware designed by Sir Jony Ive, you may not have to wait too long.

The former head of design at Apple, whose products were revered for their aesthetics, is going to work closely with OpenAI, after the AI-focused company announced an acquisition of io, a device startup that Ive and OpenAI CEO have been working together on for two years now.

The acquisition is set to cost OpenAI a cool $6.5 billion, with Altman positing that the deal could drive the value of OpenAI to over $1 billion. Given the fact that OpenAI has outlined its not-for-profit ambitions, the statement is a little odd, but it looks like io will serve as a vehicle for physical product development.

“Computers are now seeing, thinking and understanding. Despite this unprecedented capability, our experience remains shaped by traditional products and interfaces. Two years ago, Jony Ive and the creative collective LoveFrom, quietly began collaborating with Sam Altman and the team at OpenAI,” a blog post regarding the announcement explained.

“We gathered together the best hardware and software engineers, the best technologists, physicists, scientists, researchers and experts in product development and manufacturing. Many of us have worked closely for decades. The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco,” it added.

As for the device in question, in an internal call with OpenAI staff reviewed by the Wall Street Journal (paywall), some non-descript details have emerged.

For example, it is said to be pocket-sized in terms of its dimensions, it will not feature a normal screen interface, it will have contextual awareness based on AI-powered object detection and reasoning, and it is not taking the guise of smart glasses for the form factor.

To us, this sounds a lot like the failed Humane AI Pin device, which was pandered by reviewers for its lacklustre performance and frustrating usability.

In the call, Altman said that with io, OpenAI has, “the chance to do the biggest thing we’ve ever done as a company here.”

That’s a lofty goal given how disruptive OpenAI has been for generative AI ever since ChatGPT was made publicly available, but given how poorly the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1 have been received, a device designed by Jony Ive does sound exciting.

The wait is now on to see what this eventual device will be, and whether it can deliver on the promise.