OpenAI just made its biggest move yet — buying Jony Ive’s AI startup — with hopes of building something that feels as magical as the first iPhone.
Initially, it was reported that OpenAI would buy Jony Ive’s AI startup, simply named “io”, for $500 million. To say that the actual sale cost was a bit higher would be an understatement.
The final sale price wound up being nearly $6.5 billion — in stock.
Bloomberg points out that OpenAI is paying $5 billion in equity for io. The balance of the nearly $6.5 billion stems from a partnership in late 2024 that involved OpenAI acquiring a 23% stake in io.
The purchase now marks OpenAI’s largest acquisition and signals the AI research and deployment company’s transition into creating hardware. The deal is expected to be finalized in the coming months, assuming it passes regulatory approvals.
The deal is expected to add 55 new employees to OpenAI, including hardware engineers, software developers, and manufacturing experts, according to Bloomberg. These new hires will help realize Ive and Altman’s vision for a family of devices.
A nine-minute-long video posted to OpenAI’s website features Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussing how the partnership came to be and what their hopes are going forward. There are many cryptic references to “the device,” presumably something that the pair hopes to release as soon as 2026.
“Jony recently gave me one of the prototypes of the device for the first time to take home,” Altman says. “I’ve been able to live with it and I think it’s the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.”
There’s no way to know for sure what the device is — though current speculation points to a voice assistant of some kind. Ive does mention that he believes the world is ready for something entirely new.
“The products that we’re using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology — they’re decades old,” Ive says. “It’s just common sense to at least think ‘Surely, there’s something beyond these legacy products.'”
What is certain, however, is how excited the pair seems to be about the deal.
“What it means to use technology can change in a profound way,” Altman says. “I hope we can bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.”
Previously, it was reported in 2024 that Ive had been looking for investors to provide funding of $1 billion for the unknown device, or devices. Subsequently, Laurene Powell Jobs is said to have invested an unknown sum through her Emerson Collective, as have other companies.
Jony Ive left Apple in 2019 to found his own design company, LoveFrom, and has since hired many ex-Apple staff, including his own replacement, Evans Hankey. Ive also hired ex-Apple design lead Tang Tan specifically to work on the AI startup collaboration with Sam Altman.