OpenAI has announced a landmark $6.5 billion deal to acquire IO, a startup founded by legendary Apple designer Jony Ive, in a move aimed at creating a new wave of AI-driven consumer devices. The all-stock acquisition marks OpenAI’s biggest purchase yet ...

OpenAI has fully acquired Io, a joint venture it cocreated last year with Jony Ive, the famed British designer behind the sleek industrial aesthetic that defined the iPhone and more than two decades of Apple products.

Speaking of the io ChatGPT product, Altman said the device will be fully aware of the user’s surroundings and life. It will be unobtrusive, and it’ll be small enough to rest in a pocket. Altman said the gadget would become the third “core device” you put on a desk after a MacBook Pro or iPhone.

OpenAI has acquired multiple companies over the years leading up to Jony Ive’s major io acquisition. Here are the details.

Another hint Altman and Ive gave the WSJ is that the product will be "capable of being fully aware of a user’s surroundings and life," and "unobtrusive.'"Again, painting the picture of a small smart pin that you can place anywhere.

OpenAI has announced the launch of its io Products, founded by former Apple chief designer Sir Jony Ive and Sam Altman, in a deal valued at $6.5bn. The agreement brings one of the world’s most influential product designers into OpenAI’s leadership as the artificial intelligence (AI) company expands into consumer hardware.

Sam Altman is working with Ive to secure direct user access, showing how distribution is becoming more important than technology in the AI race.