iPhone designer builds AI device: OpenAI takes over Jony Ive's company
San Francisco. ChatGPT developer OpenAI has brought former iPhone designer Jony Ive on board. Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that they began thinking about and working on new devices for the era of artificial intelligence two years ago. Now OpenAI is acquiring the company Ive co-founded for this purpose, called io. OpenAI is spending a total of nearly $6.5 billion on the new acquisition, according to Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.
Ive was Apple's chief designer for many years and worked closely with founder Steve Jobs from the mid-1990s until his death in 2011. In this role, Ive was responsible for the design of several generations of Apple devices, from Mac computers and iPods to the iPhone and iPad. The iPhone, in particular, significantly shaped the look of smartphones.
Ive left Apple in 2019 and founded his own company, LoveFrom. Little has been revealed about his projects since then. At io, which he founded a year ago, he was joined by designer Evans Hankey, who succeeded Ive at Apple until 2023, and Tang Tan, who was responsible for iPhone design until last year. Since Apple is also likely to need new devices for the AI era, the three at OpenAI could eventually compete directly with their former employer.
In an appearance before OpenAI employees, Altman and Ive told the Wall Street Journal that the first project involves a device that tracks users' environments and lives. It is intended as a complement to smartphones and laptops.
The purchase price for io is $5 billion in OpenAI shares, Bloomberg reported. OpenAI also acquired a 23 percent stake in io at the end of last year, bringing the total investment to nearly $6.5 billion. OpenAI is not listed on the stock market. In these cases, the company's valuation from financing rounds usually applies.
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