OpenAI and legendary Apple designer Jony Ive have officially launched a new company called io, with the goal of reinventing how we interact with AI through innovative hardware.
The idea began two years ago as a creative collaboration between Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and has now evolved into a formal venture. The company combines OpenAI’s AI research with Ive’s design studio LoveFrom, known for shaping the iPhone, iMac, and other iconic Apple products.
According to Ive, the first device they’ve been developing at io has “completely captured our imagination.” Altman added that when Jony gave him one of the prototypes to take home, it left him stunned. “I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen,” Altman said.
He also shared that Ive personally called him and said, “This is the best work our team has ever done”—a bold statement, considering this is the designer behind some of the most influential products in consumer tech history.
Both believe it’s time to move past aging product categories like smartphones and laptops, which Altman called “decades old.” With AI now enabling what he describes as “magic,” the two see an opportunity to create a new class of devices that reflect what’s possible today.
The new company, io, is based in San Francisco and brings together top talent in hardware, software, manufacturing, and design. Ive says the goal is to make AI tools that are “hopeful, human-centered, and joyful.”
There’s no word yet on what the first product will be or when it will launch, but the team says more details are coming soon.
More details are expected as io ramps up operations in San Francisco. Check out the nearly 10-minute video below, which feels like a Ive and Steve Jobs-like ‘bromance’:
Ive confirmed last fall he was working on a hardware project with OpenAI. Apple losing Ive and other designers that followed him to LoveFrom was a huge mistake.
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Ive is overrated. Not saying he’s not good at what he’s doing, just overrated. He’s often spoken of almost like some kind of design deity. When I hear him talk about some of his designs, that’s always loftier than the actual design solution of the physical object.