GoKawiilJony Ive and Sam Altman made a big promise when they teased the launch of a completely new concept in AI hardware more than a year ago.
The most recent report suggests that OpenAI may technically be delivering on this promise, but could end up at least partly competing with an upcoming AirPods model. If so, I can easily see AirPods Ultra proving the more popular choice …
The promise of OpenAI’s hardware device
The duo teased their AI hardware device in a video launched back in May of last year. It was frustratingly light in details about what form the device might take, but the pair did claim it was something completely new.
“I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen” “And so it’s just common sense to at least think, surely there’s something beyond these legacy products.” “I am absolutely certain that we are literally on the brink of a new generation of technology that can make us our better selves.”
As I said at the time, you can’t make those kind of promises and then launch a form factor we’ve seen before.
A smart speaker with camera & sensors
One smart hardware product we’ve definitely seen before is the smart speaker. However, the most recent report suggests that’s exactly what we should now be expecting. Bloomberg says that what will differentiate it is the inclusion of a camera and other sensors.
OpenAI’s much-anticipated push into consumer devices is slated to begin with a mobile, screen-free smart speaker […] It includes a camera and other sensors that help it understand a user’s surroundings and context, as well as advanced AI models beyond those available on conventional smart speakers.
Whether that truly makes it an entirely new type of technology is debatable, but it’s not hard to see how such a device could be dramatically more capable than existing smart speakers.
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