OpenAI is acquiring io, the AI hardware startup led by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, in a deal valued at $6.4 billion, according to Bloomberg. 

OpenAI on Wednesday said the move is part of a larger plan to build a new category of consumer devices powered by artificial intelligence. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Jony,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on X. “Excited to try to create a new generation of AI-powered computers.”

OpenAI had reportedly explored purchasing io in April. The report says io has been developing a range of AI-native devices. One of those devices is described as a screenless “phone,” part of what OpenAI and Ive claim will be a “new generation of AI-powered computers.”

As part of the deal, about 55 hardware engineers, developers, and product experts, including key figures like Cannon, Hankey, and Tan, will be joining OpenAI.

In a statement, OpenAI said that the io team will now work more closely with its research, engineering, and product teams in San Francisco. The goal is to bridge AI and hardware in ways that move beyond traditional smartphone and PC form factors.

Altman and Ive aim to reinvent how people interact with AI

Sam Altman and Jony Ive say they’ve been collaborating behind the scenes for two years. In a video posted on OpenAI’s YouTube page, the two shared how their conversations evolved from speculative ideas to building actual prototypes.

“Jony recently gave me one of the prototypes to take home,” Altman said in the video. “I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.”

Altman explained the thinking behind this direction. “To use ChatGPT today, you have to turn on a computer, open a browser, go to the site, type a query, and wait,” he said. This experience, in his view, involves a long process. Altman and Ive believe that AI should be more easily embedded into everyday objects, not just apps on a screen.

“The products we’re using today to connect to unimaginable technology are decades old,” Altman said. “It’s just common sense to think: surely there’s something beyond these legacy products.”

Ive added, “I am absolutely certain that we are on the brink of a new generation of technology that can make us our better selves.”

The first is product expected in 2026, with Ive leading the design team

The first device from the OpenAI and Ive’s collaboration is expected to launch in 2026. Jony Ive’s design studio, LoveFrom, will remain an independent company and will lead the product and design strategy across both io and OpenAI.

According to Ive, “I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the past 30 years has led me to this moment.”

OpenAI's growing presence in hardware could put pressure on companies like Apple and Google. Apple is reportedly behind in adding generative AI to its devices. Its stock dropped by 2% on the day OpenAI announced the acquisition.

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