OpenAI introduced on Might 21 that it’ll purchase Jony Ive’s synthetic intelligence {hardware} startup io in an all-equity transaction valued at roughly $6.4 billion, in accordance with a report by CNBC.
The acquisition, OpenAI’s largest thus far, marks a decisive step into {hardware} for the corporate greatest recognized for its generative AI fashions. The deal incorporates io immediately into OpenAI.
In the meantime, Ive, a former Apple design chief, will retain independence for his design agency, LoveFrom.
Ive is credited with designing the iPhone, iPad, and different key Apple merchandise. He’ll assume design and inventive tasks throughout OpenAI and io.
Integration into AI and product groups
In a joint assertion, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive mentioned the io staff will relocate to San Francisco to work intently with OpenAI’s analysis and product groups.
The io startup, based a 12 months in the past by Ive and former Apple colleagues Scott Cannon, Tang Tan, and Evans Hankey, was beforehand operated as a part of LoveFrom.
OpenAI at the moment owns a 23% stake in io, contributing $1.4 billion to the deal’s valuation. The remaining $5 billion will likely be transferred in fairness.
The transaction will deliver io’s device-focused staff in-house, including industrial design capability to OpenAI’s portfolio. In a press release shared on X, Altman described Ive as “the best designer on the planet.”
The deal comes weeks after OpenAI agreed to accumulate Windsurf, an AI coding assistant, for $3 billion.
{Hardware} investments
Alongside its in-house efforts, OpenAI has invested in Bodily Intelligence, a San Francisco-based robotics startup that raised $400 million in 2024 at a valuation of $2.4 billion.
That spherical included participation from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Bodily Intelligence is constructing general-purpose AI to function in bodily environments, suggesting OpenAI’s broader intent to pair software program with tactile programs.
The acquisition of io reinforces that course. Whereas OpenAI didn’t disclose particular merchandise, the weblog put up referenced gadgets that “encourage, empower, and allow,” and emphasised IO’s mission to translate AI capabilities into consumer-oriented kind elements.
OpenAI’s buy of io highlights its technique to construct out bodily interfaces for its fashions, because the aggressive subject in generative AI continues to widen with entries from Google, Anthropic, and xAI.
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