OpenAI Buys Jony Ive’s io to Build Next-Gen AI Devices

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OpenAI Buys Jony Ive’s io in $6.4 Billion Deal to Build Next-Gen AI Devices

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: May 22, 2025

Key Takeaways

OpenAI is acquiring Jony Ive’s hardware startup, io, in a $6.4 billion stock deal to build AI-connected devices;
The goal is to develop smaller, wearable tools that make OpenAI’s technology more accessible;
Ive’s firm LoveFrom will lead product design while io’s team handles hardware and software development.

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OpenAI Buys Jony Ive’s io in $6.4 Billion Deal to Build Next-Gen AI Devices

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OpenAI has announced the acquisition of io, a hardware company launched in 2024 by former Apple design chief Jony Ive.

The deal, worth $6.4 billion in stock, brings io’s team of about 55 engineers and product specialists into OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco.

The plan, according to the company's announcement on May 21, is to build smaller, more personal devices that give users easier access to OpenAI’s tools.

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OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, said, "Jony gave me one of the prototypes of the device for the first time to take home, and I’ve been able to live with it, and I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world has ever seen".

Ive is known for leading the design of several Apple products, including the first iMac—a machine that played a key role in helping Apple recover during the late 1990s.

Ive started io with a few of his Apple colleagues—Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan. His independent design firm, LoveFrom, will help shape the look and feel of OpenAI’s future products.

Meanwhile, io’s team will focus on making sure the devices work well, from hardware parts to software features.

In the announcement, Ive said:

I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment.

Recently, OpenAI decided to remove the limit on how much investors can earn by changing its business model into a "public benefit company". What did Altman say about it? Read the full story.