OpenAI forms a new hardware division with the io team, led by Jony Ive, to develop AI-native devices, possibly launching a voice-first product as early as 2026.

And OpenAI entered a corporate partnership with The Atlantic last year.) Read: The great AI lock-in has begun Moving into hardware could become OpenAI’s most technologically disruptive, and financially lucrative,

OpenAI pushed generative AI into the public consciousness. Now, it could be developing a very different kind of AI device. According to a WSJ report,

In a move that casts a shadow across Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developer’s Conference, OpenAI has announced that it will purchase io, the AI startup founded by acclaimed former Apple designer Sir Jony Ive, who helped create the iMac, iPod, and iPhone.

The Verge team has a few guesses about the first hardware release from the OpenAI and io combination. Let us know yours in the comments. * Richard Lawler: Speaker / projector combo. * Wes Davis and Andrew Liszewski: Her-style earbud plus puck controller.

OpenAI just made its biggest move yet — buying Jony Ive's AI startup — with hopes of building something that feels as magical as the first iPhone.

Jony Ive’s LoveFrom has spent two years assembling io, a crack team of specialists to visualise the physical form of Artificial Intelligence. Newly acquired by Sam Altman at ChatGPT, this tech supergr