OpenAI and Jony Ive’s AI hardware startup “io” are facing a trademark lawsuit from a smaller company called iyO - a Google-backed startup building custom-molded in-ear AI headsets.
The problem?
iyO says “io” sounds too much like their name.
And they think OpenAI might’ve picked up a few ideas from their tech along the way.
But here’s the twist:
OpenAI and io aren’t building a headset at all.
They’re still in early R&D, and their prototype - according to court filings - is not wearable, not in-ear, and still a year away from market.
So what exactly is this fight about?
What the Companies Are Saying
“The prototype… is not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device.”
– Tang Tan, Co-founder of io (formerly at Apple), court declaration
“Our intent with this collaboration was, and is, to create products that go beyond traditional products and interfaces.”
– Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, court filing
“I met with Rugolo [iyO’s CEO] as a courtesy to my mentor… and took steps to avoid exposure to any confidential IP.”
– Tang Tan, in response to iyO’s claims
So far, OpenAI and io have stated clearly:
They explored many products - bought dozens of headphones for research - but never agreed to partner, never copied, and aren’t even making the same type of device.
What That Means (In Human Words)
Hosently in partictical terms , this news has no value.
This is not a fight over a product.
This is a fight over positioning.
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iyO built something real.
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io and OpenAI are still building… something else entirely.
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But iyO thinks they saw too much, got too close, or sound too similar.
Here’s what makes it messy:
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The names: iyO vs. io - one typo away from a lawsuit.
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The space: both in AI hardware.
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The meetings: they happened. iyO showed off their tech. They even offered to sell the company.
But no deal was made, and OpenAI walked away.
Now iyO is suing.
Not because OpenAI launched a product - they haven’t.
But because iyO thinks OpenAI might be planning to move in on their turf.
source: OpenAI
Let’s Connect the Dots – The Enough and Restless Edition
OpenAI bought io - Jony Ive’s startup - with a big vision in mind.
They’re not trying to build a phone.
They’re not chasing AGI.
They’re building a device for the next stage of AI evolution.
No one really knows what it will look like yet.
But the people at Jony’s team probably do.
And whatever they’re imagining, it’s not something that fits in today’s categories.
A headset - for lack of a better word - might be part of it.
In their journey, OpenAI and io met a lot of candidates.
iyO was one of them.
When OpenAI walked away, iyO seemed to decide:
Maybe they saw too much.
Maybe their own revolution is now at risk.
iyO is building an in-ear device - but not the kind we know today.
It’s meant to connect directly to AI and deliver a new kind of experience.
They believe it could redefine how we interact with intelligence.
So what are they really fighting about?
Not a name.
Not a feature.
But about who will lead the next revolution.
Who will create the next breakthrough in AI hardware -
The thing that changes how we use AI
And how deeply it integrates into our lives.
Bottom Line
📍 OpenAI and Jony Ive are not building an AI headset.
📍 iyO is - and they’re trying to make sure no one gets close to their space, name, or concept.
📍 The product at the heart of the lawsuit doesn’t even exist yet - and may never look like what iyO is worried about.
📍 But in this market, perception moves faster than product - and the lawsuit is a preemptive line in the sand.
From Thought to Prompt
Let’s time travel.
Let’s say you’ve already bought your shiny new AI avatar device.
It’s designed to represent you across all platforms - your tone, your preferences, your decisions, your voice.
So here’s the task:
What if your current AI assistant had to train that avatar?
Today’s AI assistants - whether it’s ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or Pi - already carry a history of working with you. They’ve picked up how you think, how you ask, what matters to you.
We’ve designed a prompt you can copy and paste into any of them, asking:
What do you know about me - and how would you pass that knowledge on?
👇 Try this to find out what your AI has picked up.
📋 Prompt
Based on everything you’ve learned from working with me - across all our past interactions - imagine you now need to train a new language model to support me.
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What would you say about me to help that new AI understand who I am, how I think, what I prefer, and how I like to be helped?
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What guidance would you provide so it can assist me properly from the very beginning - tone, behaviours, goals, don’ts, and patterns you’ve noticed?
You’re not guessing - you’re handing over what you’ve learned.
Stop the AI Cult – Using the Power of Perspective
This is not a headline and has no impact on our right-here, right-now use of AI.
But it does point to where AI is going.
We’ll call it a big move - those are usually the news we have no time left to read :)
We’re reporting on it because it looks like there are strong forces
investing in developing our next AI generation experience -
how we’ll interact with it,
how we’ll use it,
and apparently, it won’t be connected to a computer anymore.
If you ask us what we believe it will be?
We believe it’s going to be a new kind of avatar -
one that will operate as our presenter when we work with AI,
because (let’s face it) we’re using more than one :)
Our logic?
It will probably have one central “remember me” system -
something that knows what you like, what you don’t like, and so on -
and acts as your personal AI operating console.
Will it only be an in-ear device?
Will it be something else - wearable or not?
We don’t know. ???
But it looks like this is what it’s all about.
Who will be written in the history books as the ones who made the next shift in how we use AI?
The ones who created our new centralised avatar.
