A screenless phone? iPhone designer tapped to make new OpenAI device
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has officially partnered with famed designer Jony Ive to create a new artificial intelligence device. The $6.5 billion deal marks OpenAI’s largest acquisition to date, according to The New York Times.
A designer with a renowned portfolio
Ive is best known as the creative mind behind Apple’s most iconic products. He designed the original iPhone, the iMac in 1998 and the Apple Watch in 2014.
Ive’s minimalist, human-centered approach to design helped redefine consumer technology. At Apple, he worked to create devices that emphasized simplicity. His design language is sleek surfaces, clean lines, and intuitive interfaces, which helped set the standard for modern tech aesthetics.
Ive also helped conceptualize Apple Park, the company’s circular, futuristic headquarters in Cupertino.
More than tech
Long before Apple, Ive created a landline phone in the 1980s called the Orator. He’s also ventured into high-end design, including a $250,000 ring made from a single lab-grown diamond, which sold at auction through Sotheby’s.
Through his design firm LoveFirm, Ive worked with brands like Airbnb in a “multi-year relationship to design the next generation of Airbnb products and services.”
His portfolio spans hardware, architecture and social impact — underscoring why his partnership with OpenAI is drawing so much attention.
Sam Altman teases “the coolest tech”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently spoke about the collaboration and even tested one of the prototypes.
“Jony recently gave me one of the prototypes of the devices to take home, and I’ve been able to live with it,” Altman said. “I think it is the coolest piece of technology the world will have ever seen.”
Ive and his team of roughly 55 engineers and researchers are working closely with OpenAI on the product’s development.
It’s not a exactly a phone or glasses
So, what exactly are they building?
According to The Verge, a leaked internal call revealed that the OpenAI device won’t be a phone or a pair of glasses — two common guesses in the tech world.
However, insiders believe the team may be working on a screenless phone-like product with AI-powered features.
A natural pairing
The collaboration makes sense given both men’s recent pursuits. Altman has been working on an orb that scans users’ eyes to verify their identity and store information on a blockchain system.
If widely adopted, it could serve as a new form of digital identification — and align well with OpenAI’s broader AI ambitions.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
