OpenAI will snap up io in a deal believed to be worth around $6.5 billion, in what the company said in a statement was a “collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values”.
“AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world,” Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO said. “No one can do this like Ive and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.”
Ive is the mind behind original designs for the iPhone, iMac and iPad. He left the tech giant in 2019 to set up a design company, LoveFrom.
But it’s Ive’s other venture that OpenAI will be purchasing. io was only founded in 2024 by Ive along with other former Apple design executives, including Tang Tan, the former head of iPhone and Apple Watch design.
Reports surfaced back in September 2023 that OpenAI was working with LoveForm on plans to develop AI-powered devices for consumers. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son was also believed to be on board with a view to getting the companies to use Arm-based hardware.
The acquisition will see Ive and his LoveFrom brand assume creative and design responsibilities across all of OpenAI’s operations.
io’s staff will now work closely with OpenAI’s research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco.
“What it means to use technology can change in a profound way,” Altman said. “I hope we can bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.”
“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,” Ive said.
“While 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. The values and vision of Sam and the teams at OpenAI and io are a rare inspiration.”
While Ive and Altman expressed optimism, they’ve got one eye on a market that, so far, has floundered.
Startups like Rabbit Inc. and Humane have tried to market AI devices for consumers, only to be ripped apart upon launch.
Humane’s AI pin, also developed by was lambasted upon release, and the company was quietly sold to HP. Rabbit’s R1 fared a little better, though security issues saw a group of hackers access the company’s code base and responses to user queries, including those containing the users' personal information.
Forrester’s VP principal analyst Thomas Husson commented: “By investing in Ive’s startup and design expertise, OpenAI bets that AI will radically change experiences powered by smartphones or smart glasses.
“However, the challenge here is not just to use AI to enhance existing tasks, but to invent new products and experiences. Except smartwatches, no new product category has emerged since the smartphone.”
“It’s a significant investment for the software company to enter the hardware market,” Husson added. “Ive is an exceptional designer, but smartphones (and hardware) is a volume play about scale and scope. I think Apple is still best placed to win this marathon race.”
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