Jony Ive and OpenAI deal has raised alarms for Apple

Last week, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced acquiring io, a hardware startup co-founded by legendary former Apple designer Jony Ive. As part of this deal, Ive and his team will move to OpenAI to design AI products.

As a quick reminder about Jony Ive's background, he served as Apple's chief designer for many years and laid down the design cornerstone of some of Apple's best-selling products, such as iPhones, iPads, and Mac devices. While Ive left Apple in 2019 to work on personal projects, Apple always claimed he kept his close relationship with the company leadership.

The $6.5 billion deal between OpenAI and Jony Ive might not have so much to do with Apple at first glance. However, positioning Apple's former design chief as OpenAI's head of product design could be a wake-up call for Apple in many ways. In the launch video, Ive said, "I am absolutely certain that we are literally on the brink of a new generation of technology that can make us our better selves."

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described Jony Ive as the "greatest designer in the world" and said the company is "excited to try to create a new generation of AI-powered computers."

OpenAI has not yet explicitly stated whether it wants to launch an AI product to rival Apple or any other smartphone maker. Most AI hardware claimed to replace smartphones has miserably failed so far due to the immaturity of technology and design. But that certainly would not prevent OpenAI from pushing the envelope.

Previous reports suggested that Jony Ive is working on a screenless AI phone. The device could be controlled via voice commands and serve as a potential replacement for conventional smartphones. The project could be the same trump card OpenAI is looking for in the AI hardware market.

It remains to be seen how Apple would react to the recent partnership between its former design chief and OpenAI, a company that outpaced Apple in the AI race. However, even top Apple executives allegedly see AI hardware as a threat to the iPhone's reign. In testimony during the US government's antitrust case against Google, Apple services chief Eddy Cue explicitly said customers might no longer need an iPhone 10 years from now.

Via: Bloomberg

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years.

News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of April): 1,811

RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend