OpenAI is acquiring Jony Ive’s secretive AI device startup, io, in a $6.5 billion all-stock deal-its largest acquisition to date. Jony Ive, Apple’s legendary design chief, has been quietly building a new kind of hardware team, focused on designing a personal AI device that’s not a phone, laptop, or anything we've seen before.
OpenAI and Ive’s teams have been collaborating for two years. Now they’re making it official.
💼 What the Company Is Saying
OpenAI and Jony Ive are keeping things vague on purpose - but here’s what they have said:
Jony Ive, via press statement:
“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment. While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman:
“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.”
That’s it - no specs, no prototype, and definitely no product name.
What we know is this: the team says the goal is not to create just another smart device, but to explore how we interact with intelligence in a more human, intuitive way. It’s a long-term collaboration, with the first product expected in 2026.
Just a shared vision: a screenless, context-aware, pocket-sized AI assistant - something more like a presence than a product.
🛠️ What That Means (In Human Words)
This is OpenAI’s move into hardware-not to compete with iPhones, but to make AI feel personal.
It's their answer to the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1-devices that tried and flopped. But with Jony Ive behind the design and OpenAI powering the brain, they’re betting they can pull it off.
And no-it’s not a phone. It’s a “thinking tool” you carry. Something ambient. Maybe even invisible. It's the kind of thing that makes your phone feel old.
🤔 What Is This Device Really About?
This isn't just about one product. It’s about rethinking the interface layer between us and AI.
We’ve spent the last decade consolidating everything into one device-the phone. Now suddenly, we’re going backwards?
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We’ve got the watch.
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Glasses are coming.
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And now, a dedicated AI device that’s not a phone.
So what is it? A middle step? A placeholder before AGI has a physical form? A tool to warm us up to the idea that AI will live with us?
OpenAI and Jony Ive seem to be betting that people will want a separate device just for AI. But will they?
That’s the real test. Will people actually carry something just for talking to intelligence-especially when most already feel overwhelmed by devices?
Or is this part of the transition-from AI being something inside a screen… to AI becoming its own presence in the world?
📉 Bottom Line
Available? Nope. Nothing you can preorder. Yet.
Expected? First launch is teased for 2026. So… hang tight, early adopters.
Specs? Still a mystery.
Cost? No clue. Could be $199. Could be your firstborn. We’ll let you know.
Whether it works or not? We'll see.
❄️ Frozen Light Team Perspective
Everyone's talking about OpenAI jumping into hardware to chase Apple and Google.
Wrong conversation.
This isn’t just a competition move. It’s a signal that every major player is rethinking the way we interact with tech - and fast.
Look at Google as an example (yeah yeah, it was Builder Week - we’re all 'Google this, Google that' - wink wink). Google’s going full Gemini - in your inbox, on your phone, in your YouTube feed. One LLM running the whole show. OpenAI? They’re betting on a different play: one LLM, one device, no screen, just talk. Not a phone. Not a gadget. A dedicated portal to the AI layer.
This isn’t about what’s on your screen anymore. It’s about removing the screen altogether.
We used to click. Now we speak. The AI listens, acts, moves. It’s already opening your docs, sending your emails, booking your meetings. You’re not navigating the internet anymore - you’re directing it.
That weird little thing Jony’s building? That’s not a side project. That’s the on-ramp to the next interface.
Not flashy. Not finished. But it’s the start of a world where the web doesn’t sit in front of you - it answers you.
So yeah - $6.5 billion isn’t about a device. It’s about what we’re leaving behind.
Goodbye tabs. Goodbye click paths. Goodbye “where do I find that again?”
Hello, just say it.
No co-worker. No assistant. Just your external brain, doing the job - before you even ask.
