According to a leaked recording of an OpenAI workers assembly on Wednesday, CEO Sam Altman hinted at a brand new secret venture he’s been engaged on with former Apple designer Jony Ive. Altman has been collaborating with Ive’s startup, io, on AI “companion” units, which he says supply “the chance to do the biggest thing we’ve ever done as a company here.”
During the assembly, Altman introduced plans to amass io for $6.5 billion, noting that the acquisition might add as much as $1 trillion to OpenAI’s valuation. He revealed his plans to present Ive a serious artistic and design position at OpenAI, in accordance with The Wall Street Journal’s unique report.
Few particulars identified about OpenAI companion units
Altman and Ive stored particulars scarce on the assembly. Altman claimed that stealth will probably be important to their final success in order that opponents can’t copy the machine earlier than it’s able to launch.
The AI firm hopes to launch the mysterious machine by the top of 2026. Altman expressed his hopes of ultimately transport 100 million of those AI companions, although he acknowledged that wouldn’t be attainable on day one.
While the precise kind of machine is unknown, the WSJ revealed that it is going to be comparatively small, in a position to sit atop a desk or slot in a pocket. The merchandise is predicted to be a “core device” that turns into a part of on a regular basis life, so customers will attain for it as usually as they use their iPhones and MacBook Pros.
As the Journal described it, the machine will “be fairly aware of a user’s surroundings and life.”
The machine received’t be a cellphone or a pair of glasses, and it’s unlikely to be a wearable. Its intent is supposedly to wean customers off screens, however OpenAI hasn’t offered extra particulars about what which may appear to be.
OpenAI seeks to compete with tech machine giants like Apple, Google
With this acquisition, OpenAI is positioning itself to compete with Apple and Google, whose working techniques collectively run virtually all the world’s smartphones. While Apple and Google could lag behind in synthetic intelligence, the tech giants dominate the patron electronics market.Competing with these corporations’ model status, huge market share, lengthy historical past of success, and multi-trillion-dollar income will probably be tough for OpenAI, which has but to show a revenue and doesn’t count on to take action till 2029. However, with out constructing its personal machine, OpenAI received’t be capable to work together straight with customers and can as a substitute must depend on different corporations’ units to behave as a go-between between customers and their AI instruments.






