OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive's Startup io for $6.5B, Ive Leads Design

Jony Ive, the renowned Apple product designer and chief architect of the iPhone, has joined OpenAI to lead creative and design efforts, focusing on developing AI-powered consumer devices that could redefine user interaction beyond screens. OpenAI acquired Ive's startup io in a $6.5 billion all-equity deal, integrating its team of Apple veterans and hardware experts into OpenAI's operations based in San Francisco. Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been collaborating for two years on this initiative, aiming to create groundbreaking technology that may include devices such as headphones with cameras. This partnership represents OpenAI's most significant move into hardware, positioning it to compete directly with Apple, which is currently seen as trailing in the AI race. The new hardware is expected to launch in 2026 and is described by Altman as a "crazy, ambitious thing to make" with the potential to introduce a new generation of AI-powered computers. Ive will maintain control of his design firm LoveFrom, which will continue independently while also steering OpenAI's design vision.