In a landmark $6.5 billion all-stock acquisition, OpenAI is buying io, the AI device startup co-founded by legendary Apple designer Jony Ive. The move marks OpenAI’s most ambitious push yet—not just into consumer-facing hardware, but into a future where artificial intelligence is as much a tangible, designed experience as it is a backend powerhouse.
For OpenAI, best known for its generative AI models like ChatGPT and DALL·E, this acquisition represents a significant evolution. With software foundations already reshaping industries, the company is now laying the groundwork to merge AI intelligence with physical form—just as Apple once transformed digital music and mobile communication. One might imagine Apple would have a huge leg up on AI-powered hardware, but Cupertino is struggling with its AI plans, and risks ceding grounds to faster-moving companies like OpenAI.
The value of the deal—$5 billion in equity and the rest via a previously acquired 23% stake—doesn’t just reflect capital. It captures OpenAI’s intent to infuse hardware design with AI fluency. The io team, made up of 55 hardware engineers and designers, brings pedigree and precision, having helped create iconic Apple products including the iPhone and Apple Watch. Now, their next act could define what AI-powered devices look and feel like.
Jony Ive’s involvement is pivotal. As one of the most influential industrial designers of our time, his move into AI hardware is being closely watched. “I have a growing sense that everything I’ve learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place and to this moment,” he said, calling his collaboration with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman a deeply creative partnership.
This isn’t a recent idea. Ive and Altman have been in discussions for over two years, exploring how to embed AI natively into hardware rather than bolting it on. The first product—details of which remain under wraps—is slated for release in 2026.
Altman is excited about the possibilities this coming together could open up. “AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world. No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.
What it means to use technology can change in a profound way. I hope we can bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.”
On his part, Ive too is equally enthused. “I am reminded of a time, three decades ago, when I emigrated to America. As a designer, I was drawn to the exhilarating and innocent optimism of Silicon Valley, to collaborate with people driven to create amazing products that elevate humanity.
I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment. While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration. The values and vision of Sam and the teams at OpenAI and io are a rare inspiration.”
The strategic implications are sweeping. For OpenAI, it’s a chance to shape not just software ecosystems but the physical touchpoints through which people engage with AI. For the broader tech landscape, it suggests a reinvention of hardware design language, one that centers AI not as a feature, but as the core operating principle.
Investors are betting big on this vision. io is backed by prominent names such as Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective, Thrive Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, and others. Notably, Altman himself holds no equity in io, sidestepping potential conflicts of interest.
If successful, this could be a defining moment for AI, much like the original iPhone was for mobile computing. But this time, the ambition is even larger: to craft an entirely new category of intelligent, purpose-built devices that seamlessly weave AI into our daily lives.
It’s a bold step. But with OpenAI’s ambition, Altman’s vision, and Ive’s legendary design instincts, it might just be the leap that turns science fiction into everyday reality.
