Our 5 Greatest Theories About OpenAI and Jony Ive&...

AI devices are again, child! Or that’s what Jony Ive and Sam Altman hope. Nicely, they could not likely hope they’re again as a lot as they hope they’re not completely and utterly cooked. ICYMI, Ive and OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, announced in a post-Google I/O keynote bombshell that they’re teaming up underneath a new company called, “io” to make, um… one thing? No matter it’s, it’s apparently price $6.5 billion of OpenAI’s cold, hard AI revolution money.

We really, genuinely, have no idea what the 2 are making collectively outdoors of the truth that it’s going to be a bit of {hardware} (or probably many), and will probably be centered on AI (duh). However simply because we will’t reply the burning query of what this factor is but doesn’t imply we don’t have some clues. To your speculative pleasure, I’ve gone forward and aggregated the most effective hints we have now up to now, Pepe Silvia-model, to deliver us no less than one child step nearer to hazarding a guess. Listed below are the tastiest “phone-killing” AI gadget rumors we have now up to now.

Numerous the most effective hints about what we will count on come from a Wall Street Journal report printed on Wednesday. In line with the report, Altman gave the OpenAI workers a preview of units within the pipeline and provided just a little perception into what they could be like.

Two key parts, based on the WSJ report, are that the gadget shall be “totally conscious” of a person’s “environment and life.” That clearly doesn’t supply a ton when it comes to what form the shape issue will take, but it surely does level towards the last word product having sensors—a digicam, microphone, possibly some form of pc imaginative and prescient? Once more, it’s exhausting to say, however to be “conscious,” the AI machine goes to want a few of that stuff. And that’s not simply me guessing on that entrance…

One other element from WSJ is that the gadget shall be “unobtrusive,” which may refer, no less than partially, to Ive’s trademark minimalist aesthetic, however probably hints at a extra key side of its design—no display. The screenless side appears to be corroborated by an inside scoop from Ming-Chi Kuo, a longtime expertise analyst and credible tech rumor supply. In a post on X, Kuo writes, “It is going to have cameras and microphones for environmental detection, with no show performance.”

That’s not shocking on condition that Ive has gone on report beforehand speaking about how he doesn’t precisely love what the iPhone has change into since he helped pioneer it with Steve Jobs again within the day. Whether or not a screenless AI machine can truly succeed the place others like Humane’s Ai Pin failed is a giant query, however Ive and Altman appear to be keen to present the thought one other go.

My business analysis signifies the next relating to the brand new AI {hardware} machine from Jony Ive’s collaboration with OpenAI:
1. Mass manufacturing is predicted to begin in 2027.
2. Meeting and delivery will happen outdoors China to scale back geopolitical dangers, with Vietnam at present the… pic.twitter.com/5IELYEjNyV

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 22, 2025

One of many strangest particulars that hit me whereas sorting by means of the drip is how Altman is referring to the duo’s {hardware}. In line with WSJ, Altman referred to the machine as a “companion.” That would actually imply something, however to me, after I see “companion,” my thoughts gravitates much less to a wearable and extra to… a robotic? I’m not the one one wanting in that path, both. Altman has no less than given some indication prior to now that he needs to make a “actually cute” pc, and this might appear to be an ideal alternative to just do that.

I hear what Jony Ive and Sam Altman are constructing is a small robotic. A extremely cute one.@kscalelabs has a extremely cute one, just a little dude a couple of foot excessive.

I already gave the founders my bank card so I may very well be first to get it. $1,000. https://t.co/qeVjSl6VLo

— Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) May 21, 2025

One other fascinating bit from Kuo’s “business analysis” is that the machine could in the end not compute fully by itself. Kuo writes that “it’s anticipated to hook up with smartphones and PCs, using their computing and show capabilities.” When you ask me, that’s a little bit of a cop-out when it comes to being screenless and nowhere close to as quirky because the Humane AI Pin’s projection interface, however most likely a wise thought in the long run for making one thing that’s, uh, practical. There’s quite a bit we will guess at with this nugget, however my mind skates to some form of agentic AI—suppose a connective “companion” that you just carry round to do pc stuff for you. A factor that connects to the factor to make issues much less annoying! Sounds convoluted however probably helpful?

One of the complicated bits of messaging is on the wearable entrance. Making an AI wearable has proved tough, if the Ai Pin is any indication, however based on Kuo, there may very well be a wearable side to it. “One of many supposed use instances is sporting the machine across the neck,” writes Kuo. That appears to contradict among the preliminary rumblings from the WSJ, nevertheless. In line with the WSJ, the machine shall be “capable of relaxation in a single’s pocket or on one’s desk, and could be a 3rd core machine an individual would placed on their desk after a MacBook Professional and an iPhone.”

Pocket and desk? That doesn’t actually sound wearable-esque to me, however I suppose the reply may very well be someplace in between. There are already some AI units on the market—like this AI pendant—which might be supposed to be worn round your neck, so the thought wouldn’t be completely novel, however one thing tells me Ive and Altman want to iterate on current type elements for AI devices. And wearables? So passé.