OpenAI's Big Bet That Jony Ive Can Make AI Hardware Work
1 min read
Summary
AI company OpenAI has fully acquired Io, the startup it established with former Apple designer Jony Ive, in a deal worth $5bn in equity.
OpenAI and Ive’s design firm LoveFrom established Io in 2022 as a vehicle for the pair’s ambition to create AI-powered hardware.
In the fourth quarter of last year, OpenAI took a 23% stake in Io, and the entity has now bought out the remainder of the company.
The deal will see hardware and software engineers, physicists and product development experts from OpenAI and Io merge, with LoveFrom and Ive maintaining a level of independence to manage the creative design process.
It is not yet clear what product the merged company will work on, but the focus is likely to be on consumer-facing devices in the AI era.
Advances in AI and computing power have spurred the ambitious project.
