Nearly two years ago, we first heard about Openai CEO Sam Altman, who was secretly working with the famous Apple designer Johnny Eve on the AI ​​hardware product. But now, the mystery is out. Openai has confirmed that it is stepping into the world of hardware with an acquisition of $ 6.5 billion of IO products, which is a startup co-installed by IVE. This step is a significant twist for the manufacturer of chatgpt, as it seems to bring artificial intelligence to the physical world through a new generation of AI-operated equipment.

The deal locates IVE, which is known to design iPhone, IMAC and Macbook as a central person in shaping the future of Openai in consumer hardware. While the company has not yet come to know which product it is manufacturing, it has described the target as creating a “a new family of products” that leads AI beyond the screen and in our everyday life.

Ive’s design firm Lavfrom, which he established after leaving Apple in 2019, will remain independent. However, Openai said that Ive and his team would take on both IO and Openai to “deep design and creative responsibilities”. “It became clear that our ambitions to develop a new family of products, engineers and our ambitions demand a completely new company,” Ive and Altman wrote in a joint blog post.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, After announcing the plan to acquire the company of IVE, Altman told its employees that Openai now has “the biggest ever as a company as a company.” In a meeting, he indicated that Ive and their startups, bringing into IO, may potentially increase the value of Openai as $ 1 trillion.

Openai is paying $ 5 billion in equity for acquisition. It already had a 23 percent stake in IO through previous cooperation, which began in 2023. The state’s filing reportedly included the company in September 2023 and registered in California in April.

The IO Division will now be led by Openai’s Executive Peter Welinder, who previously looked after robotics research and early product investigation efforts. The team, described by Altman and IVE as “best hardware and software engineers, technologists and manufacturing experts”, will now work together with Openai’s research and engineering units in San Francisco.

The partnership between Altman and IVE is working close to two years. In February, Altman indicated on the plans of an “AI-Fund device”, which was created in collaboration with IV, describing the initiative as a long-term target. At that time, reports suggested that former Apple officials, including Tang Tan, who led the iPhone and Apple Watch design, were also joining the attempt.

While the form of the new device wraps factor, speculation points to far more ambitious than a simple smartphone. Some believe that this human may be similar to AI pin or rabbit R1, or even glasses, a car interface, or a humanoid robot shape. “It’s very hurry to surely,” Gartner analyst Chirag Docket said, “Speaking to the Associated Press,” But expect the physical AI avatar. “

In his declaration, Altman and Ive described their cooperation as inherent in “friendship, curiosity and shared values”. Ive, reflecting the project, said, “I have a growing understanding that whatever I have learned in the last 30 years, it has taken me to this moment. While I am worried and excited about the responsibility of further adequate work, I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such a significant cooperation.”

Altman said: “AI is an incredible technology, but great equipment requires work at the intersection of technology, design and understanding. No one can do this like Johnny and their team; what they take care of in every aspect of the process is extraordinary.