OpenAI acquires Jony Ive’s startup for $6.5 billion: the race for next-generation AI hardware begins

The largest acquisition in OpenAI’s history paves the way for a new industrial era.

OpenAI has officially closed a $6.5 billion all-stock deal to acquire io, the startup founded by Jony Ive, the legendary chief designer of Apple. This is the most significant corporate operation ever undertaken by OpenAI, with a clear goal: to move from being a provider of artificial intelligence models to a creator of AI-native physical devices. The agreement strengthens the company’s ambition to build a complete ecosystem, where software, models, interfaces, and objects are designed coherently to maximize user experience and the naturalness of interaction with AI.

The story of io shows a rapid but strategic journey, born in 2023 from LoveFrom, fueled by targeted funding, and now projected into a new industrial dimension.

Officially founded in March 2023 as an operational spin-off of LoveFrom (an independent design studio founded by Jony Ive after leaving Apple), the startup io was created to give tangible form to the experimental design ideas that Ive and his team were developing outside the big tech groups. With an initial capital of about $200 million—raised from Silicon Valley family offices and institutional investors—io operated with a compact team of about 55 professionals, including hardware designers, UX experts, and engineers based in London and San Francisco.

From the start, the operational approach was focused on rapid prototyping of AI-centric devices designed to reduce the visual interface and enhance environmental and voice-based interaction with artificial intelligence. In 2024, the startup began tests in collaboration with companies in the health and smart home sectors, achieving pilot revenues estimated around $35 million. However, the transition to scale production and advanced computational demands were slowing down the entry into the consumer market. For this reason, the acquisition by OpenAI was welcomed by the team not as an exit, but as a natural evolution toward a phase of scalability, global visibility, and internal AI power, impossible to achieve as an independent reality.

Jony Ive and LoveFrom remain operational but become integrated at the heart of OpenAI’s organization.

The agreement does not dissolve the LoveFrom brand, which will remain active as an independent design studio. However, Jony Ive and io’s team of about 55 designers, engineers, and researchers will work closely with OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco. The model is hybrid: LoveFrom will continue to work with other clients, but will also be the central creative engine for developing new devices specifically designed for the advanced capabilities of OpenAI models. The goal is to blend aesthetics, functionality, and artificial intelligence into a single integrated vision.

The new AI devices will be neither smartphones nor computers: the “third category” is born.

Initial reports suggest that Ive’s team is working on a “third category of devices,” designed to surpass the classic architecture of phones and laptops. The intent is not to replace existing tools but to create radically new objects, conceived for constant, ambient interaction with AI. Among the options being considered are pocketable devices, desktop assistants, or portable models with minimal visual and voice interfaces, capable of understanding context and acting proactively. The first launch is scheduled for 2026, opening a new phase of AI-driven hardware.

Within this “third category,” design will focus on total integration between artificial intelligence and physical form: these will be devices characterized by minimalist aesthetics, without dominant screens, constantly able to sense the surrounding environment and interpret the user’s needs in near real time. Recent leaks describe prototypes aiming to eliminate the need for traditional touch interaction, relying instead on microphones, environmental sensors, and contextual actuators. The goal is to develop a product that accompanies users in daily life, offering suggestions, automations, and anticipated responses without the need for explicit requests.

These devices could therefore act as “personal AI co-pilots,” adapting to individual habits and needs through a combination of voice recognition, predictive models, and continuous learning. All this with special attention to privacy, behavior personalization, and discreet use, so that ambient AI is experienced as an added value rather than an intrusive presence. Some analysts believe this very category—part accessory, part assistant, part productivity tool—could represent the true generational leap in AI and everyday life integration.

A strategy consistent with OpenAI’s evolution from API provider to full-stack platform.

The acquisition comes after months of signals: OpenAI had already invested in io at the end of 2024, acquiring a 23% stake. This transition from investor to owner reflects a deep strategic change. OpenAI no longer wants to limit itself to offering models via API or web chatbots; it wants to control the entire user experience, from interface to physical support. In this way, it enters into direct competition with Apple, Google, and Microsoft, all engaged in developing devices natively compatible with generative AI.

The beginning of a new phase of “AI-native” products changes the perspective of human-machine interaction.

The merger between Ive’s creative genius and OpenAI’s cutting-edge technologies could lead to a true generational leap in everyday devices. The goal is clear: to design objects that not only respond to user input, but anticipate needs, suggest solutions, and act in context without explicit prompts. This new class of devices aims to make AI a natural part of the physical environment, without distracting or interfering with the user’s attention. A minimalist, immersive, and perfectly integrated vision.

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