OpenAI's $6.5B acquisition of Sir Jony Ive's io will help the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY)-backed startup develop artificial intelligence-powered devices, with products expected to be revealed as early as 2026.

The takeover will bring approximately 55 hardware engineers, software developers, and manufacturing experts to OpenAI.

Sam Altman is working with Ive to secure direct user access, showing how distribution is becoming more important than technology in the AI race.

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