Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is backing former Apple (News - Alert) designer Jony Ive. For those in the Apple world, Jony Ive is legendary for the sleek and slender looks of Apple devices. So, the fact that he has turned his attention to blending AI with Consumer IoT promises to be something extraordinary. The startup is looking to eventually produce AI-infused consumer devices.
The problem for Jony Ive is that operating in stealth mode is pretty hard to do when you are as famous as he is. On the other hand, the speculation is running wild that he is doing all sorts of things like building consumer devices to build an AI design platform to build a single consumer device that may be the most convenient yet. Personally, I like the idea of Jony Ive having a Vulcan mind meld with OpenAI, but I doubt that’s the business plan.
OpenAI is reportedly in talks to buy io Products for $500M. Besides Altman and Ive, Laurene Powell Jobs (Steve Jobs’ (News - Alert) widow) may be involved.
If it’s a solitary product it could be a consumer device that could aid users in everyday tasks, and OpenAI is the engine behind the technology. Besides Ive, former Apple all-stars Tang Tan and Evans Hankey have been working with Ive, but it’s unclear whether they would join OpenAI.
It is unlikely that the device will be “another smartphone,” but I will speculate it’s possible it could replace Ring, Alexa, or Nest as a single device for all your needs at home. We will just have to wait and see what transpires.