OpenAI To Venture Into Devices

OpenAI has plans to become a device manufacturer like Apple and the person it is banking on to do this is, in fact, someone who was responsible for the making of Apple’s phenomenal brand. Jony Ive, who was chief designer there for a long time, handpicked by its visionary founder Steve Jobs, was responsible for, among other things, the iPhone’s design, which changed the paradigm of how mobile phones ought to look and behave.

Ive subsequently started his own startup io. A partnership with OpenAI began and initially it was slated to be a tie-up but then they realised that for the scale being envisioned, it needed to be one company. OpenAI has now acquired io for US$ 6.5 billion.

Sam Altman, the chief executive officer of OpenAI has been working closely with Ive for two years to pivot to devices. OpenAI unleashed the generative AI revolution and has since been relentlessly at the forefront. But it is years away from profitability and needs to have multiple fronts to justify the huge valuation it currently commands. An AI device is one part of the equation.

Interestingly, the device will not be anything like what exists today. While the company has kept it secret, reports suggest that it is not a phone or a regular wearable like glasses. It would have no screen, would be an AI driven product that would be present in a user’s environment, catering to his or her personal and professional requirements.

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