OpenAI acquires Jony Ive’s startup in $6.5 billion push into AI hardware

OpenAI is making its most ambitious move yet into the physical world. The ChatGPT maker announced Wednesday that it is acquiring io Products, a secretive hardware startup founded by Jony Ive, the legendary former chief design officer at Apple, in a deal valued at $6.5 billion, according to reports in the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal.

The acquisition marks a turning point for OpenAI, which has until now focused primarily on software, specifically, building some of the world’s most advanced AI models. With the io acquisition, the company is signaling a clear intent: to reimagine the interface between humans and machines, not just through code, but through tangible, beautifully designed products.

“This is an extraordinary moment,” OpenAI wrote in its announcement. “Computers are now seeing, thinking and understanding. Despite this unprecedented capability, our experience remains shaped by traditional products and interfaces.”

The seeds of this acquisition were planted two years ago in what began as a quiet collaboration between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Jony Ive, now head of the design firm LoveFrom. Ive was behind the design of Apple's hit products, including the iPhone and the iPod. According to the announcement, the partnership grew out of a friendship and “shared values,” evolving into a joint effort to rethink how humans should interact with increasingly intelligent machines.

That early work gave rise to io, the hardware startup Ive founded one year ago alongside former Apple colleagues Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan.

Now, io’s team and mission will be folded into OpenAI, allowing for deeper collaboration with its AI research and product groups in San Francisco. Ive and LoveFrom will take on expanded design responsibilities across both io and OpenAI.

The language of the announcement is unusually emotional for a major tech acquisition.

“The ideas seemed important and useful. They were optimistic and hopeful. They were inspiring. They made everyone smile,” OpenAI wrote. Ive added that he hoped to bring back “some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit” he first experienced using an Apple computer 30 years ago.

Altman, who has previously expressed frustration with the limitations of today’s hardware, called the merger essential to realizing AI’s potential: “AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world.”

While neither company has disclosed what specific products are under development, the deal appears aimed at creating a new category of AI-native hardware, tools and devices that blend OpenAI’s language models with the intuitive.

Jony Ive, for his part, sees the move as the culmination of his career. “I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,” he said. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration.”