Apple Design Icon Sir Jony Ive Joins Forces with OpenAI to Build AI-Centric Devices
Renowned British designer Sir Jony Ive, celebrated for shaping Apple’s most iconic products, is teaming up with OpenAI as the artificial intelligence firm moves to develop its own hardware line.
OpenAI announced it will acquire a start-up founded by Sir Jony, who will take on significant design and creative responsibilities across the company. The collaboration is part of a broader effort to create a “family of devices” designed specifically with AI at their core, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Altman described the venture as an opportunity to “completely reimagine what it means to use a computer,” signalling the firm’s ambitions to push AI beyond software and into consumer hardware. The move is seen as a direct challenge to Apple and other tech giants, as the industry searches for the next breakthrough product in the post-smartphone era.
Following the announcement, Apple’s shares dipped by more than 2%, reflecting investor concerns over the growing competition.
Sir Jony, who played a pivotal role in Apple’s revival with designs for the iPhone, iPod, and MacBook, left the company in 2019 to establish his own creative agency, LoveFrom. His latest venture, io, was quietly developed in collaboration with OpenAI over several years. The acquisition formalises that relationship, with OpenAI previously holding a 23% stake in the firm.
Reports in the U.S. suggest the merger values io at around $6.4 billion (£4.7 billion), though LoveFrom will continue to operate independently.
In a video accompanying the announcement, Sir Jony described the partnership as arriving at a critical moment: “We are on the brink of a new generation of technology,” he said.
Since launching ChatGPT in 2022, OpenAI has catalysed a global surge in AI development and investment. Its latest step into hardware puts it in direct competition with Meta, Google, and Apple – each of which is exploring next-generation devices such as smart glasses and mixed-reality headsets, powered by advances in artificial intelligence.
