Jony Ive and OpenAI's Sam Altman Seeking Funding for Personal AI Device - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Jony Ive and OpenAI's Sam Altman Seeking Funding for Personal AI Device

by

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Apple design chief Jony Ive have officially teamed up to design an AI-powered personal device and are seeking funding, reports The Information.

jony ive ipad pro
Little is known about the AI device at this time, but it won't look like a smartphone. Altman is a major investor in the Humane AI pin, a wearable AI device that does not have a screen, so it's possible he will create a similar product with Ive.

News of a possible partnership between Ive and Altman first surfaced last fall, but talks were in the early stages and nothing was official then. Ive and Altman's unnamed startup is now sourcing funds from major venture capitalists, with Ive aiming to raise up to $1 billion in funding.

OpenAI could own a piece of the business, and the duo has also been in talks with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Potential investors include Thrive Capital, an OpenAI investor, and Emerson Collective, a venture capital firm and philanthropic organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs.

Ive left his role as Apple design chief in 2019, and while he still worked with the Cupertino company as a consultant for several years after through his firm LoveFrom, Ive and Apple stopped working together entirely in 2022.

Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Jony Ive, OpenAI

Top Rated Comments

jz0309 Avatar
jz0309
27 months ago
instant NON-buy
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
a3Dman
27 months ago
Can't wait for its release video narrated by Ive himself.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrTemple Avatar
MrTemple
27 months ago
News from 5y from now: Despite the company's failure, Jony Ive still doesn't regret omitting the speaker holes, display, or indeed any way to interact with the device itself, repeating over and over his most memed moment of the catastrophic unveiling video:

"The lines of the unbroken uni-orb case took inspiration from the silver dew collected by the fine hairs of the ambrosia fruit at the exquisitely precise moment of sunrise on the autumnal equinox atop Mount Olympus itself."
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
klasma
27 months ago
People won’t want to carry around another device, and it won’t replace a smartphone, so… dead in the water?
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H
Harry Haller
27 months ago

Jony Ive designs revolutionary products at Apple that establish Apple in the mainstream.

Jony Ive leaves Apple.

Apple design products that are progressively worse.

Apple struggles to maintain innovative edge among increasing competition.

Jony Ive starts a new tech company that will become more Apple than Apple.
How has LoveFrom out Appled Apple in the last 5 years?
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
klasma
27 months ago
It’s three devices in one: a Star Trek Communicator, a tricorder, and a phaser! Now that would sell.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments