OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has enlisted famed designer Jony Ive — best known for his role in creating Apple’s iPhone — to lead a major new AI hardware initiative.
As part of this move, OpenAI is acquiring io Products, a company Ive co-founded, in a deal worth approximately $6.5 billion. Ive gained worldwide recognition during his 27 years at Apple, where he played a key role in defining the design of iconic devices like the iPhone, especially in partnership with Steve Jobs. He left Apple in 2019.
Now, Ive is stepping into the forefront of the AI era. While OpenAI hasn’t disclosed exactly what the new product will be, analysts speculate it could involve a physical AI interface — possibly something like AI-integrated glasses, a robot, or even a vehicle — that brings generative AI out of the digital realm and into real-world devices.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly been collaborating with Ive and his design firm LoveFrom since 2023. In a letter posted on OpenAI’s website, Altman and Ive said their shared vision led to the formation of a new company to develop and manufacture a fresh generation of AI products.
That company, io, was officially incorporated in Delaware in late 2023 and registered in California in April 2024. OpenAI already held a 23% stake in io through an earlier partnership and will now acquire full control with a $5 billion equity purchase.
Ive will not join OpenAI as a staff member; instead, LoveFrom will remain independent while taking on major creative and design roles for both OpenAI and io. All three entities — OpenAI, LoveFrom, and io — are based in San Francisco.
Peter Welinder, a longtime OpenAI executive who has led its robotics and early hardware efforts, will head the new io division.
Altman, 40, is clearly aiming to replicate the kind of innovation that resulted from the collaboration between Jobs and Ive. When founding LoveFrom, Ive drew inspiration from Jobs’ belief in crafting products with deep care and humanity. His studio is located in a historically artistic part of San Francisco, once frequented by Beat Generation writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.
OpenAI, just a couple of miles away, was originally launched as a nonprofit focused on safe AI research. Although it’s now deeply invested in commercial products like ChatGPT, it is still overseen by a nonprofit board. Altman recently announced that OpenAI will retain this governance model while exploring ways to better attract capital and pursue acquisitions — steps meant to keep the company competitive while staying true to its original mission.
It’s unclear whether Altman’s work with Ive began before or after his brief ousting from OpenAI in late 2023, which happened between io’s incorporation in Delaware and its later establishment in California.