Jony
Ive
has
confirmed
that
he’s
working
with
OpenAI
CEO
Sam
Altman
on
an
AI
hardware
project.
The
confirmation
came
today
as
part
of
a
profile
of
Ive
in
The
New
York
Times,
nearly
a
year
after
the
possibility
of
a
collaboration
between
Altman
and
the
longtime
Apple
designer
was
first
reported
on.
There
aren’t
a
lot
of
details
on
the
project.
Ive
reportedly
met
Altman
through
Brian
Chesky,
the
CEO
of
Airbnb,
and
the
venture
is
being
funded
by
Ive
and
the
Emerson
Collective,
Laurene
Powell
Jobs’
company.
The
Times
reports
it
could
raise
$1
billion
in
funding
by
the
end
of
the
year,
but
makes
no
mention
of
Masayoshi
Son,
the
SoftBank
CEO
rumored
last
year
to
have
invested
$1
billion
in
the
project.
The
project
only
has
10
employees
currently,
but
they
include
Tang
Tan
and
Evans
Hankey,
two
key
people
who
worked
with
Ive
on
the
iPhone.
LoveFrom,
Ive’s
company,
is
leading
the
device’s
design,
according
to
the
report.
The
team
is
reportedly
now
working
out
of
a
32,000-square-foot
office
building
in
San
Francisco,
part
of
a
$90
million
strip
of
real
estate
that
Ive
has
bought
up
on
single
city
block.
As
for
the
device
itself?
The
Times
says
that
Ive
and
Altman
discussed
“how
generative
AI
made
it
possible
to
create
a
new
computing
device
because
the
technology
could
do
more
for
users
than
traditional
software”
due
to
its
ability
to
handle
complicated
requests.
Last
year
it
was
rumored
to
be
inspired
by
touchscreen
technology
and
the
original
iPhone.
But
it
sounds
like
few
specifics
are
nailed
down.
LoveFrom
cofounder
Marc
Newson
told
the
Times
that
the
AI
product
— and
when
it’ll
come
to
market
— are
still
being
figured
out.
(Originally posted by Alex Cranz)
Comments