A few months ago, OpenAI teamed up with Jony Ive to build the next generation of AI-powered hardware, under the brand io.
Now, according to The Information, they are working with the same supply chain partners that Apple relies on for its own products. Here are the details.
OpenAI and Jony Ive resort to Apple suppliers for io
According to the report, io has already signed with a major Apple supplier and is courting a second:
“Luxshare, a major assembler of iPhones and AirPods in China, has already secured a contract to assemble at least one of OpenAI’s devices, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the matter. OpenAI has also approached Goertek, which assembles AirPods, HomePods and Apple Watches, to supply components such as speaker modules for OpenAI’s future products, the people said.”
The report also offers a few previously unreported (but widely speculated) details about what exactly OpenAI and Jony Ive intend to release under the brand io.
Up until now, io had mentioned only that their plans involved wearables in some capacity, with very little specific details about which (or how many) products they planned to release.
According to the report:
“One of the products OpenAI has talked to suppliers about making resembles a smart speaker without a display, the people said. OpenAI has also considered building glasses, a digital voice recorder and a wearable pin, and is targeting late 2026 or early 2027 for the release of its first devices, one of the people said.”
More money, less bureaucracy, familiar faces
Today’s report also notes that since io was announced, OpenAI and Jony Ive were able to poach “more than two dozen employees from Apple who worked on consumer hardware,” versus around 10 deflections last year.
From the report:
“Those recruits include hardware engineers and designers who previously focused on user interfaces, wearables, cameras and audio engineering at Apple, among other areas, according to their LinkedIn profiles and people familiar with the matter.”
This adds to the brain drain that the company has been facing at its AI divisions, with multiple departures to Meta and other competitors in recent months.
In the case of OpenAI, another big draw aside from large compensation packages, is the fact that these employees will get the chance to work once again not only with Jony Ive and Evans Hankey, but also with Tang Tan, who spent more than 25 years working on design at Apple.
Some of the recent hirings include:
Cyrus Daniel Irani, a 15-year Apple veteran who led the company’s human interface design team;
Matt Theobald, who worked on manufacturing design at Apple for almost 17 years;
Erik de Jong, who partly led the Apple Watch hardware team.
Aside from the reunion with old colleagues and the large compensation packages, the report also mentions the fact that most of the new hires seem excited to work on new initiatives rather than Apple’s more iterative offerings.
What’s your take on the departure of Apple designers to OpenAI? Let us know in the comments.
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