Jony Ive Joins OpenAI as Design Chief After $6.5B Company Acquisition

According to a renowned media outlet, OpenAI is purchasing io, a gadget firm that CEO Sam Altman and renowned Apple designer Jony Ive have been secretly working on for two years, in an all-equity deal valued at $6.5 billion.

Ive and his design company, LoveFrom, will now oversee creative and design work at OpenAI as part of the unique agreement that was revealed on May 21. In a post on X on May 21, Altman said he was excited to be working with Jony, the world's best designer. "I am eager to try to develop a new generation of AI-powered computers," he continued.

New Partnership all Set to Transform AI World

One of Apple's past design leaders, renowned for creating numerous iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Apple Watches, is now at the leading edge of the newest technological trend, generative AI, thanks to OpenAI and Ive's partnership.

 OpenAI has greatly increased its consumer business since the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart and a former Meta executive, was hired by the company earlier this month to head its consumer applications. In the consumer hardware market, Ive might enable OpenAI to directly compete with Apple, increasing pressure on the iPhone manufacturer.

Apple has had difficulty creating AI features in recent years that can compete with the newest OpenAI and Google technologies. According to a report published by a media house, Io employs about 55 engineers, scientists, researchers, physicists, and product development specialists, all of whom will join OpenAI.

Numerous workers at io are former Apple designers who contributed to the creation of the company's most recognisable products, such as Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan. Ive is still in charge of his design company, LoveFrom, which will carry on on its own.

Io will create AI-powered consumer electronics and other initiatives under OpenAI. According to reports, Altman and Ive have been developing a tool that takes users "beyond screens." The first products from Ive and Altman are expected to launch in 2026, according to a media outlet. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ive will play a wide range of responsibilities, contributing to ChatGPT's future iterations and more.

OpenAI to $5 Billion to Fully Acquire io

According to a source in a prominent media outlet, OpenAI already possessed a 23% ownership in io as part of an agreement between the two businesses last year. Accordingly, OpenAI will make the largest acquisition in its history by paying $5 billion to entirely acquire io, the company that makes ChatGPT.

According to reports, last year, the OpenAI Startup Fund invested separately in io. Altman stated in an OpenAI video that the goal of io is to develop a line of AI tools that will enable users to create "all sorts of wonderful things" using AI. He is certain that all he has learnt "over the last 30 years has led me to this place and this moment," Ive stated.

Ive claimed that the first AI gadget he is developing has "completely captured" his imagination. AI technology is still in its early stages of development.

Altman was an early investor in Humane, another AI hardware startup that created an AI-powered "pin" and was started by former Apple employees. Humane was sold to HP, and its gadgets were sunsetted following a string of missteps.