Jony Ive, who left his design role at Apple five years ago, is teaming up with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on an AI hardware project. This collaboration was confirmed in a New York Times profile of Ive, nearly a year after initial reports hinted at their partnership. The goal is to create “a product that uses AI to deliver a computing experience that’s less socially disruptive than the iPhone.”
Ive and the Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs’ company, are funding the venture, which is expected to raise $1 billion by the end of the year.
The project currently has only 10 employees, including Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, two key figures who collaborated with Ive on the iPhone. According to the report, LoveFrom, Ive’s company, is leading the device’s design. The team is reportedly working from a 32,000-square-foot office building in San Francisco, part of a $90 million strip of real estate that Ive has acquired on a single city block.
Marc Newson, cofounder of LoveFrom, told The Times that the specifics of the AI product and its launch timing are still being determined, reports The Verge. Previous rumours suggested that the product would be inspired by the original iPhone and touchscreen technology.
