Former Apple design guru Jony Ive has confirmed that he’s working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to build an AI-powered hardware device – roughly one year after rumors about the high-profile collaboration first went public.
The still-quiet project surfaced in a new profile of Ive, who is best known for working with late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on many of company’s most iconic product designs, including the iPhone. Ive founded the design firm LoveFrom in 2019 after leaving Apple.
During a meeting at the Michelin-starred San Francisco restaurant Spruce last year, Ive and Altman discussed “how generative A.I. made it possible to create a new computing device,” according to the New York Times, which interviewed Ive for the article.
Details on the device itself remain scant, though Ive and Altman reportedly discussed how it would be able to perform advanced tasks, such as booking travel or identifying a specific plant from a photo, that exceeded the capabilities of traditional smartphones.
The Times said early concepts for the device call for an AI-centric device that is “less socially disruptive than the iPhone,” though it remains unclear if 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 several more meetings, Ive and Altman reportedly decided to pursue the project, with LoveFrom coming aboard to design the device 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 newspaper said, though it’s unclear who else may be involved.
Ive has reportedly hired about 10 employees and spent $60 million on office space in a space neighboring LoveFrom’s headquarters in San Francisco.
OpenAI did not immediately return a request for comment.
Initial hires include Tang Tan, a former Apple executive who led the teams responsible for designing the iPhone and Apple Watch before being poached last December, and Evans Hankey, who succeeded Ive as Apple’s top designer before leaving in 2023.
The Ive-Altman project was first reported by The Information in September 2023. At the time, the outlet reported that Japanese investment firm SoftBank and its famous chief Masayoshi Son had participated in early talks.
The profile revealed other details about the reclusive Ive’s recent activities, including the revelation that he has purchased roughly half a city block’s worth of real estate in the Jackson Square area of downtown San Francisco.
Ive has reportedly spent nearly $90 million of his personal fortune on the real estate deals since 2020.
The tech executive told The Times that he was planning the area as a hub to attract creatives in San Francisco after many left the city during the COVID-19 pandemic. A major renovation for the buildings is set to be completed late next year.
The headquarters of LoveFrom and the still-unnamed AI hardware startup are located in buildings he purchased. Ive is also said to be planning a storefront to sell LoveFrom-designed products, including jackets and notebooks.
