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

OpenAI is making its most ambitious move into consumer technology yet, acquiring io, a hardware startup founded by legendary former Apple design chief Jony Ive, in a deal valued at approximately $6.5 billion.

The acquisition, mostly an all-equity transaction, will bring around 55 engineers and product developers from io into OpenAI, including former Apple veterans Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan, all key members from the team behind the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. OpenAI already owned 23% of io and will now take the company in-house to develop a new generation of AI-native devices.

Ive will not be joining OpenAI directly, but instead will take on “deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io,” the company said in a statement. Ive's design firm, LoveFrom, will remain independent while assuming creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io. “AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said. “No one can do this like Jony and his team.”

Founded in 2023, io has been quietly building hardware meant to take full advantage of generative AI technologies. Rumours have swirled that OpenAI and Ive have been collaborating on a product intended to redefine how humans interact with AI, something that could eventually supplement or even succeed smartphones.

Speaking in a video shared by OpenAI, Ive said: “The products that we’re using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology, they’re decades old. Surely there’s something beyond these legacy products.”

While the new device is not positioned as an “iPhone killer,” both Altman and Ive have teased its disruptive potential. “In the same way that the smartphone didn’t make the laptop go away, I don’t think our first thing is going to make the smartphone go away,” Altman told Bloomberg. He added that the prototype he received to test at home was “the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.”

Ive, in turn, expressed confidence in what the team is building: “I am absolutely certain that we are literally on the brink of a new generation of technology that can make us our better selves.”

The first products from this collaboration are expected to launch in 2026. According to the Wall Street Journal, the team has explored a range of ideas, including wearables like headphones and AI-powered camera devices. Altman and Ive have reportedly been working closely on the project for more than two years.

This is OpenAI’s largest acquisition to date and follows a wave of recent buyouts, including the $3 billion purchase of Windsurf, an AI-assisted coding tool, and analytics platform Rockset in 2024.

While LoveFrom’s website offers little detail about its work, the firm reportedly commands up to $200 million a year in client fees, having previously consulted for brands like Airbnb, Christie’s, and Ferrari.

With the io deal, OpenAI is betting big on a future where the lines between software, hardware, and AI blur—and where design plays a central role in making these systems feel intuitive, human, and impactful.