Former Apple design guru Jonathan Ive has confirmed that he's working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to develop AI-powered hardware devices, nearly a year after rumors of the high-profile collaboration first went public.
The still-hushed project emerged in a new profile of Ive, who is known for working with the late Steve Jobs on many of the company's most iconic products, including the iPhone, and who founded the design firm LoveFrom in 2019 after leaving Apple.
At a meeting last year at the Michelin-starred Spruce restaurant in San Francisco, Ive and Altman discussed how generative AI could enable the creation of new computing devices, according to the report. The New York TimesIve was interviewed for this article.
Details about the device itself are still largely unknown, but Ive and Altman reportedly discussed how the device could perform advanced tasks that go beyond the capabilities of a traditional smartphone, such as booking a trip or identifying a specific plant from a photo.
According to The New York Times, early concepts for the device call for an AI-centric device that will be “less socially disruptive than the iPhone,” but it's unclear whether it will be a rival smartphone or tablet.
The initial meeting between Ive and Altman was reportedly brokered by Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, who contracted LoveFrom with design work for his rental booking platform and is known to be a close friend of Altman's.
After a few more meetings, Ive and Altman reportedly decided to move forward with the project, with LoveFrom helping to design the device and OpenAI providing the software.
According to The New York Times, the project has already raised funding from Ive himself and Jobs' widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, a prominent venture capitalist, who is investing through her company, Emerson Collective.
The startup could raise a total of $1 billion by the end of the year from unnamed “technology investors,” the paper said, but it was unclear who else might be involved.
Ive has hired about 10 employees and reportedly spent $60 million on office space adjacent to LoveFrom's headquarters in San Francisco.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The initial hires include Tang Tang, a former Apple executive who led the team responsible for designing the iPhone and Apple Watch until he was poached last December, and Evans Hankey, who will succeed Ive as Apple's top designer before leaving the company in 2023.
The Ive Altman Project First reported by The Information September 2023. At the time, the media reported that Japanese investment firm SoftBank and its well-known CEO Masayoshi Son were involved in early talks.
The profile also revealed other details about the reclusive Ive's recent activities, including the revelation that he has purchased a property equivalent to about half a city block in the Jackson Square area of downtown San Francisco.
Ive has reportedly spent about $90 million of his personal fortune on real estate deals since 2020.
Executives at the tech company told The Times that they envision the area as a hub to attract San Francisco's creative talent after many fled the city during the COVID-19 pandemic. An extensive renovation of the building is scheduled to be completed at the end of next year.
LoveFrom and its as-yet-unnamed AI hardware startup will be headquartered in the building Ive bought, who is also said to be planning a store selling products designed by LoveFrom, such as jackets and notebooks.
