{"id":7334,"date":"2025-05-21T21:00:53","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T21:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/21\/openai-to-acquire-iphone-designer-jony-ives-a-i-startup-for-6-5b\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T21:01:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T21:01:01","slug":"openai-to-acquire-iphone-designer-jony-ives-a-i-startup-for-6-5b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/21\/openai-to-acquire-iphone-designer-jony-ives-a-i-startup-for-6-5b\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI to Acquire iPhone Designer Jony Ive\u2019s A.I. Startup for $6.5B"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jony Ive helped design the iPhone and other Apple products. Lia Toby\/BFC\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OpenAI<\/a> CEO Sam Altman<\/a> isn\u2019t content with smartphones or laptops as the primary interfaces for A.I. in daily life. Good thing he has Jony Ive<\/a>, the famed designer behind the iPhone, to help imagine what comes next. In its largest acquisition to date, OpenAI will buy out Ive\u2019s year-old hardware startup, LoveFrom\u2019s io, in a $6.5 billion deal. The merger, announced today (May 21), brings together Altman and Ive\u2019s shared vision to create \u201ca new family of products<\/a>\u201d built specifically for A.I., according to a blog post from OpenAI.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,\u201d said Ive, who will take on design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io via his design firm LoveFrom but remain independent from the A.I. company, in a statement. \u201cWhile I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ive was first introduced to OpenAI after his son began experimenting with ChatGPT, he shared in a video accompanying the announcement. That curiosity led to a meeting with Altman, where the two began envisioning new hardware better suited to A.I.\u2014a collaboration that inspired Ive to found io in 2024.<\/p>\n

The startup was co-founded by Ive, who left Apple<\/a> in 2019, along with several former Apple colleagues including Scott Cannon<\/a>, Evans Hankey<\/a> and Tang Tan<\/a>. All are expected to join OpenAI with io\u2019s 55-person team,<\/a> reporting to OpenAI\u2019s vice president of product, Peter Welinder<\/a>. The company also received early backing from Emerson Collective, the investment firm founded by Laurene Powell Jobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Though Ive is known for shaping Apple\u2019s minimalist design language\u2014from the iMac and iPad to the iPhone\u2014both he and Altman stress that their new project is not just another sleek gadget. Instead, they aim to rethink the way we interact with technology. The future device, they say, will be less clunky than a laptop and less screen-focused than a smartphone. \u201cWhat it means to use technology can change in a profound way,\u201d said Altman, adding that he hopes to \u201cbring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Details about the device remain under wraps. This isn\u2019t OpenAI\u2019s first foray into consumer hardware\u2014the company previously integrated its models into Humane\u2019s $699 wearable pin,<\/a> which ultimately failed to gain traction. The startup shut down operations shortly after the product\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n

Still, Altman is already enthusiastic about what\u2019s to come. According to OpenAI\u2019s video, Ive recently gave him a prototype to test at home. \u201cI think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen,\u201d said Altman.<\/p>\n

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