Jony Ive And Sam Altman’s Mystery Product: Here’s What We Can Expect

What do you get when you cross the mastermind behind the iPhone with the CEO of OpenAI? According to Jony Ive and Sam Altman: the “coolest piece of technology the world will have ever seen.” Modest.

After two years of behind-the-scenes collaboration, Jony Ive’s hardware startup, io, has officially merged with OpenAI in a $6.4 billion deal. Ive, who famously helped bring the iPod, iPhone and MacBook to life, will now lead the creative and design direction for both io and OpenAI through his agency LoveFrom.

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Image @justinbartak via Instagram

“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,” Ive says, equal parts humbled and hyped.

The duo have already developed a working prototype of their mysterious AI device—one that’s apparently neither a smartphone nor a pair of glasses. According to the Wall Street Journal, the product will be “unobtrusive,” hyper-aware of your environment, and designed to sit alongside your iPhone and MacBook Pro—basically, your new third limb. Altman reportedly told employees that OpenAI plans to build 100 million AI companions, suggesting this isn’t just a one-off gadget but a whole new tech category.

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Still, the bar is high. “It really will have to be amazing to prise people away from today’s screen-based devices,” says Martha Bennett, analyst at Forrester. And let’s not forget the AI hardware flops that came before—RIP Humane’s AI Pin and the Rabbit R1—both slammed by Ive himself as “very poor products.”

But the ambition here is serious. As Altman puts it: “AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world. No one can do this like Jony and his team.”

Ive echoes that sentiment, adding: “I hope we can bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.”

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So what is io, really? It’s not just a device—it’s a full-blown product family in the making, built by a supergroup of engineers, designers, physicists, and scientists. The goal? To reimagine how we interact with AI beyond keyboards and touchscreens.

According to tech analyst Benedict Evans, the move is strategic. “This is an AI research lab trying to bootstrap itself into becoming a major platform company… Sam is trying to build the plane while flying it.”

The first flight takes off next year. Buckle up.