OpenAI closes $6.5B deal for Jony Ive’s io

OpenAI just sealed its massive hardware bet.

OpenAI officially closed its nearly $6.5 billion acquisition of io, the hardware startup co-founded by legendary former Apple design chief Jony Ive. The goal is straightforward: build dedicated hardware devices powered by ChatGPT.

A quiet return after legal trouble

Getting the deal across the finish line hit a legal bump. OpenAI had quietly scrubbed its original announcement post and a promotional video starring CEO Sam Altman and Ive after facing a trademark lawsuit from Iyo, an audio hardware startup spun out of Google's moonshot factory. The video still hasn't returned.

OpenAI brought the blog post back with carefully chosen wording, referring to the acquired entity specifically as io Products Inc. The startup's team is officially folding into OpenAI to work alongside research, engineering, and product groups in San Francisco. Ive and his creative firm LoveFrom will remain independent while taking on deep design and creative duties across OpenAI.

Why it matters

OpenAI is tired of being just an app on someone else's screen.

We think this deal shows OpenAI wants to control its own destiny by building a dedicated hardware home for its models. Teaming up with Ive gives them instant design credibility that pure software companies usually lack. But spending nearly $6.5 billion on an unproven category is a massive gamble, especially when modern standalone AI gadgets have mostly struggled to find a real purpose.

It looks like OpenAI is gearing up to challenge the current consumer tech hierarchy. There is nothing for users to buy yet, but when frontier models get paired with iconic industrial design, smartphone makers should definitely be paying attention.