iPhone designer Jony Ive joining OpenAI as part of $6.5 billion deal

Jony Ive, the celebrated former Apple industrial design maven behind the look of the iPhone, iPad and other of the technology giant's products, has joined OpenAI as part of a $6.5 billion deal that will merge's Ive's startup with Sam Altman's company.

Ive will help the artificial intelligence company, which developed ChatGPT, launch devices with generative AI capability, according to a video posted on OpenAI's X account on Wednesday.

As part of the deal, OpenAI announced it will acquire with Ive's startup io, according to a statement posted by OpenAI. Ive and his startup team will lead design efforts at the AI company.

"Two years ago, Jony and I started talking about what the future of AI and new kinds of computers was going to look like," Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said in the video. "It became very quickly apparent to both of us that we needed a third company."

Their mission is to create a family of devices that allow people to use AI to "create all sorts of wonderful things," Altman said, noting that Ive and his team have already developed a prototype device.

Ive worked at Apple for over two decades and is known for his work on iconic iPhone, iMac and other designs. He was Apple's chief design officer before leaving the company in 2019 to start his own design firm, called LoveFrom.

In:
• OpenAI
• Sam Altman
• Apple
• iPhone

AFP contributed to this report.