According to persistent industry rumors, OpenAI’s CEO is working with a former top designer at Apple on a groundbreaking AI device.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and John Ive, a former top designer at Apple, are said to be working together on a mysterious AI device. This hasn’t been confirmed by either party yet, but it’s certainly an intriguing idea.

Speculate, speculate

In the tech world, a sector where innovations often follow one another in quick succession, rumors often circulate. However, having two top names working together on an AI device is an extraordinarily difficult task.

According to two sources The Information was able to speak with (the first to report the matter), Ive and Altman are discussing the design of an as-yet-unidentified AI device. Of course, that hasn’t stopped the many speculations and there are people who are betting on a new type of smartphone.

It’s also not yet clear whether it will be an OpenAI product, despite Altman’s presence in this story. Ultimately, his company does not produce physical products. It could also be that another party is involved or of course that there is simply no device at all. In any case, the idea is just too interesting not to speculate about it.

Big names

These speculations are also fueled by the possible involvement of a third player. Masayoshi Son, the CEO of the Japanese investment firm SoftBank, is also said to be involved in the talks between the two technology leaders. His company has already invested billions in various AI startups.

Ive has its own design agency, but has in the past been responsible for iconic designs such as the iPhone, the iMac and the Apple Watch. A collaboration between him and Altman would most likely produce something impressive. For now, however, the question remains what that will be.

In the meantime, OpenAI is not standing still. For example, the company has now given its popular ChatGPT model access to the entire Internet. OpenAI is also looking for additional money and which name appears in this story as an interested investor? Yes, SoftBank. So let this speculation grow for a while.