Former Apple design guru Jony Ive has confirmed that he is working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to build an AI-powered hardware device – roughly a year after rumors of the high-profile collaboration went public for first time.
The still-quiet project appeared in a new profile of Ive, who is best known for working with late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on many of the company’s most iconic product designs, including the iPhone. Ive founded design firm LoveFrom in 2019 after leaving Apple.
During a meeting at San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Spruce restaurant last year, Ive and Altman discussed “how generative AI made it possible to create a new computing device,” according to the New York Times, which interviewed Ive for the article.
Details about the device itself remain scarce, though Ive and Altman reportedly discussed how it would be able to perform advanced tasks, such as booking travel or identifying a specific factory from a photo, that exceeded the capabilities of traditional smartphones. .
The Times said early concepts for the device call for an AI-focused device that is “less socially disruptive than the iPhone,” although it remains unclear whether it will be a rival smartphone or tablet.
The initial meeting between Ive and Altman was reportedly brokered by Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, who has hired LoveFrom to handle some design work for his rental booking platform. Chesky is known to be a close friend of Altman.
After a few more meetings, Ive and Altman reportedly decided to pursue the project, with LoveFrom coming on board to design the hardware and OpenAI providing the software.
The project has already raised money from Ive himself as well as Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, a prominent venture capitalist who invested through her company Emerson Collective, according to The Times.
In total, the startup could raise up to $1 billion from unnamed “tech investors” by the end of the year, the paper said, though it’s unclear who else might be involved.
Ive reportedly hired about 10 employees and spent $60 million on office space in a space next door to LoveFrom’s San Francisco headquarters.
OpenAI did not immediately return a request for comment.
The initial hires include Tang Tan, a former Apple executive who led the teams responsible for designing the iPhone and Apple Watch before being ousted last December, and Evans Hankey, who succeeded Ive as Apple’s chief designer before leaving in 2023 .
The Ive-Altman project was first reported by The Information in September 2023. At the time, the media reported that Japanese investment firm SoftBank and its celebrity boss Masayoshi Son had participated in early talks.
The profile revealed other details about Ive’s recent activities, including the discovery that he has purchased half a city block worth of real estate in the Jackson Square area of downtown San Francisco.
Ive reportedly spent nearly $90 million of his personal fortune on real estate deals as of 2020.
The tech executive told The Times that he was planning the area as a hub to attract creators to San Francisco after many fled the city during the COVID-19 pandemic. A major renovation to the buildings will be completed at the end of next year.
The headquarters of LoveFrom and the as-yet-unnamed AI hardware startup are located in the buildings he bought. Ive is also said to be planning a storefront to sell LoveFrom-designed products, including jackets and notebooks.
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