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Published 15:40 IST, September 23rd 2024

Former Apple design head Jony Ive reportedly working with OpenAI's Sam Altman on a secret AI device

Former Apple design head, Jony Ive, is reportedly working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to create a generative AI powered device.

Reported by: Shweta Ganjoo
Sam Altman | Image: Sam Altman

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive is reportedly working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to create a artificial intelligence (AI)-based device. As per reports, Ive is working on a device that is reportedly inspired by the original iPhone, which he helped design and which arrived in 2007, and works on generative artificial intelligence (AI). While the specifics about the device remain unknown for now, a new report suggests that it is being designed by Ive's design company, LoveFrom.

It is worth noting that reports of Jony Ive working with Sam Altman have been doing rounds for a long time now. Last year, some reports suggested that both Ive and Altman were working on 'iPhone of AI'. Now, in a profile on The New York Times, Ive has said that he is working with the OpenAI CEO to create a device that uses AI to create a "computing experience that is less socially disruptive than the iPhone".

Ive isn't alone. He is joined by two of Apple 's former employees, Evans Hankey who succeeded Ive as Apple's design lead once Ive left the company, and Tang Tan, who was looking after iPhone's product development. In total, there are 10 members in the team from LoveFrom who are developing this generative AI-powered device. The software of this generative AI device will be provided by OpenAI. While this AI-powered device is far from ready at the moment, the team at LoveFrom has already created cardboard boxes with the earliest product ideas.

Furthermore, the report says that Altman and Ive are privately raising money for the AI-powered device. While a part of the funding is being provided by Laurene Powell Jobs’s capital investment firm Emerson Collective, rest, which is around $1 billion, could come from other tech investors. That said, there is no timeline as to when this AI-powered device by Ive and Altman will see the light of day.
 

Updated 15:40 IST, September 23rd 2024

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