Computers have come a long way. In the late ’90s, we had beige boxes with bulky towers. Today, we carry sleek, glass-covered smartphones in our pockets. Devices have changed on the outside. But their core form hasn’t shifted much. Screens, keyboards, touch surfaces, and cameras still dominate personal computing.
Now, that may finally change. OpenAI has agreed to buy Jony Ive’s AI hardware startup, io, in a $6.5 billion all-equity deal. Sam Altman calls it the beginning of a new era. Ive calls it a defining moment in computing. This collaboration between a tech visionary and a design legend could reshape how we use machines.
Sam Altman Moving Beyond the Old Interface
Many of us remember the shift from old desktop PCs to Apple’s sleek laptops. The iPhone redefined phones but still followed the screen-and-button formula. Even with revolutionary software, hardware has remained stuck in the past.
Generative AI has changed everything in software. ChatGPT, Gemini, Midjourney, and others now write, draw, and reason like humans. But we’re still accessing these tools through outdated devices. That’s the gap OpenAI wants to close.
Sam & Jony introduce io pic.twitter.com/ej5K59kJq3
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) May 21, 2025
Altman made that point clear. Our devices are powerful on the inside but still look like they did decades ago. He believes it’s time to move beyond these limits. With Jony Ive, OpenAI isn’t just making another gadget. They want to create AI tools that feel alive. Devices that can see, hear, and respond without relying on old interfaces.
Jony Ive brings deep experience to this mission. He shaped the iMac, iPod, and iPhone. His work defined modern digital design. Since leaving Apple in 2019, he’s been looking for what’s next. By 2022, he was no longer involved in any Apple products. His answer? Build tools that give AI a physical form.
His startup, io, was built for that. It focuses on “physical AI embodiments”—hardware that connects the power of AI to real-world interaction. Machines that can think and act in sync with users, without needing screens or keyboards.
A Bold Partnership for the Future
Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, will stay independent but take a stake in OpenAI. It will lead the design of new AI devices. The partnership merges OpenAI’s software expertise with Ive’s design mastery.
Altman believes this is some of Ive’s best work ever. That’s a bold claim from the man who made the iPhone. But together, they plan to build the next leap in personal technology—devices shaped for the AI age, not the past.
