Jony Ive confirms working on an AI hardware product with OpenAI’s Sam Altman

Former Apple design head Jony Ive has confirmed reports that he was working on an AI hardware product in partnership with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. We still have no idea what it will do, or what form it will take (image is just a conceptual one of a mystery device).

Ive also shared that he bought a chunk of real estate in one of San Francisco’s most famous blocks, and plans include a LoveFrom store selling everything from notebooks to clothing …

Jony Ive AI hardware project

Rumors about the project date back to a very vague report in 2023.

As reported by The Information, Ive has been in talks with Altman about building a new AI device. It’s unclear at this point what the purpose of this device will be or what it will look like, but sources familiar with the conversations say that they want to create a “new hardware for the age of AI.”

Later the same year, one of his most senior former colleagues at Apple left the company.

Apple’s head of iPhone and Apple Watch product design is departing the company, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Tang Tan, who currently holds the title of VP of product design at Apple, will leave the company in February, the report says.

And was subsequently reported to be joining LoveFrom to work on the AI device.

As reported by Bloomberg, Tan will work with Jony Ive at LoveFrom, alongside OpenAI’s Sam Altman, to “work on a new artificial intelligence hardware project.”

There was also talk of a potential billion dollars in funding from Laurene Powell Jobs.

The report says the pair are in investment discussions with the VC and advocacy company founded by Laurene Powell Jobs. The startup has discussed deals with Emerson Collective […] according to a person involved in the process and another person with knowledge of the talks. Ive wants to raise up to $1 billion in funding, said a second person who has been involved in the process.

Ive confirms he’s working on the device

Ive has for the first time confirmed that he’s working on the device, in an interview with The New York Times. The piece also confirms that not just one but both of his most senior reports at Apple have joined him to work on the project.

Mr. Altman and Mr. Ive talked about how generative A.I. made it possible to create a new computing device because the technology could do more for users than traditional software since it could summarize and prioritize messages, identify and name objects like plants and eventually field complex requests like booking travel.

Mr. Ive and Mr. Altman met for dinner several more times before agreeing to build a product, with LoveFrom leading the design. They have raised money privately, with Mr. Ive and Emerson Collective, Ms. Powell Jobs’s company, contributing, and could raise up to $1 billion in start-up funding by the end of the year from tech investors […]

He has hired about 10 employees, including Tang Tan, who oversaw iPhone product development, and Evans Hankey, who succeeded Mr. Ive in leading design at Apple.

There are still no details on what it is

The piece doesn’t shed any light on what form the device might take, and it’s hard to see where the opportunity might be found. Existing attempts to sell AI hardware have not exactly had a stellar track-record, leaving many of us wondering why they weren’t just apps.

Whether Ive and Altman can change this remains to be seen – but despite my skepticism, it would be a brave person who bets against the pair.

Ive has bought a chunk of Jackson Square

The interview also reveals that Ive has bought a chunk of San Francisco’s Jackson Square, amounting to half a city block.

Plans for this include turning the central parking lot into gardens, and opening a LoveFrom store

The firm’s studio will fill two buildings between the courtyard and street. Because of a zoning requirement, one of the buildings will have a LoveFrom store where the firm will sell products like its custom notebooks and Moncler jackets.

Purely conceptual image of a mystery device by Warren Hansen on Unsplash