Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Friday that the artificial intelligence startup has finally finished its first prototypes for hardware devices.
“Finally, we have the first prototypes,” Altman said in a video posted Monday by the Emerson Collective, which invests in entrepreneurs. “I can’t believe how jaw dropping good the work is and how exciting it is.”
Altman was speaking in an on-stage discussion with former Apple design chief Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of the late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs and founder of Emerson Collective.
In May, OpenAI acquired Ive’s startup, called io, for $6.4 billion in equity and announced that it would make new AI devices. Ive took on design responsibilities on the hardware project. Since then, OpenAI and io have been relatively quiet about the project.
Ive said he expects to reveal the device in two years or less. He said that much of the development process for new hardware is unpredictable.
“Especially in large companies that value predictability, leaders get really uncomfortable with ambiguity,” Ive said.
Altman declined to answer a question about what exactly OpenAI is building, but said the company is targeting a calmer “vibe” with its hardware versus smartphones, which he compared to walking through Times Square.
“You can then go for a vibe that is not like walking through Times Square and getting bumped into and having all this stuff compete for your attention,” Altman said. “But, like, sitting in the most beautiful cabin by a lake and in the mountains and sort of just enjoying the peace and calm.”
He said a smart AI device will be able to do things for the user over long periods of time, filter things out and understand when something is important enough to notify the user. Altman added that the device will be able to “know everything you’ve ever thought about, read, said.”
OpenAI’s hardware plans are being closely watched by rivals and potential customers alike. Companies including Amazon, Google, and Meta have released AI-oriented devices like smart glasses and speakers, but none has been a big enough hit to reshape the hardware industry. Startups are also experimenting with new device sizes like pendants and ideas like giving AI bots a personality.
A major device launch from OpenAI, which has the most used chatbot with ChatGPT, could break the stalemate, and a successful product could eventually threaten Apple. The iPhone maker has yet to release an AI specific design, and the company has run into issues with rolling out improvements to Siri, its long-standing AI voice assistant. In March, Apple announced that it was delaying Siri improvements to 2026.
Last week, OpenAI said it entered into an agreement with Foxconn, which manufactures many consumer electronics, including for Apple. However, the OpenAI deal with Foxconn is focused on building AI infrastructure, and the companies didn’t mention device manufacturing.
