OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has acquired Jony Ive's design firm, io, for $6.5 billion. The deal includes $5 billion in equity and a previous 23% stake OpenAI already held.
Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, and Jony Ive have been collaborating since 2023. Other investors in io include Laurene Powell Jobs and several venture capital firms. Altman does not hold equity in io.
The combined team will focus on developing a new family of devices, expected to launch in 2026. The goal is to create truly novel products that address consumer unease with existing technologies.
LoveFrom, Ive's design firm, will continue its operations but will handle the design for all OpenAI products.
This acquisition presents a challenge to Apple, which lags behind in AI development. OpenAI is expanding through other acquisitions, such as a potential $3 billion deal for Windsurf.
OpenAI is experiencing significant growth and expansion, with recent management changes, including appointing Fidji Simo as CEO of applications.
Ive sees the partnership as an opportunity to create transformative products, similar to Apple's achievements in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He believes the combined team has the potential to revolutionize the way people interact with AI.
The new hardware development will face both the challenges of past failures in the market and the potential of success in the nascent AI hardware market.