One of the biggest voices behind the look and feel of Apple's most iconic devices has some new hardware in the works.
In a New York Times profile about Jony Ive's time post-Apple, the famed designer mentions that he is turning one of his buildings into a headquarters for "a new, artificial intelligence device company that he is developing with OpenAI."
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We know very little about the device, but The Verge confirmed that the company Ive is running with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has 10 employees so far, and two key members of the team helped develop the iPhone with Ive.
Ive was one of the leading voices behind the look and feel of not just the iPhone, but a list of industry-changing devices like the original iMac, the iPod, the iMac G4, the MacBook Air, the iPad, and the Apple Watch. He even oversaw the construction of Apple Park, the company's iconic California headquarters.
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Calling the latest project "a new computing device," Ive noted how generative AI (gen AI) has made it possible to "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."
That sounds similar to the Rabbit R1, an AI-powered assistant intended to supplement your phone or an AI-powered Alexa. With Apple packing the latest iPhone series with AI and Google doing the same with the latest Pixel lineup though, you have to wonder if there's space for an AI device that's not a phone. Ive did add that his new product would be "less socially disruptive than the iPhone."
Ive and Altman seem to believe there's a better way to build an AI device though, and whatever this new product is, people are excited. The NYT reported that the new company could potentially raise up to $1 billion in start-up funding by the end of this year.