OpenAI Acquires Former Apple Design Chief Jony Ive’s Team for $6.5 Billion, Enters AI Hardware Arena

On May 21, OpenAI announced on its official website that it will acquire io, an AI hardware startup founded by former Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive, for $6.5 billion. This marks the largest acquisition in OpenAI’s history, signaling a bold move into the AI hardware space. The company plans to launch its first AI-powered consumer devices in 2026.

Jony Ive is widely known as the visionary behind Apple’s most iconic products, including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air. He also played a central role in designing Apple’s headquarters, Apple Park. After leaving Apple in 2019, Ive founded the design firm LoveFrom. Post-acquisition, he will serve as an advisor to OpenAI while continuing his work at LoveFrom.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasized the ambition behind the collaboration, stating that they aim to create a "new class of high-quality consumer hardware unlike anything seen before." Altman added, “AI has made a huge leap in augmenting human capabilities, and we need a new form of computing to unlock its full potential.”

However, Altman clarified that their first product is not intended to replace the iPhone, drawing a parallel to how smartphones didn’t eliminate laptops. Instead, he described it as something entirely new. “Jony recently gave me a prototype to test at home,” Altman said. “I’ve been living with it, and I believe it’s the coolest tech product the world has yet to see.”

This acquisition follows OpenAI’s earlier purchases of coding assistant company Windsurf and analytics database provider Rockset, further underlining the company’s broader vision of expanding AI capabilities beyond software — into tangible, everyday technology.