OpenAI Teams With iPhone Designer Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal to Create AI Devices

The AI company is buying the startup io to craft hardware, with Ive taking "deep creative and design responsibilities" The post OpenAI Teams With iPhone Designer Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal to Create AI Devices appeared first on TheWrap.

May 21, 2025 - 19:40

OpenAI Teams With iPhone Designer Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal to Create AI Devices

OpenAI has entered into an agreement to acquire former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive’s AI devices startup io in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion.

Per a blog post, Ive and his “creative collective” LoveFrom will assume “deep design and creative responsibilities” across OpenAI and io. The latter will work more intimately with the former’s research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco.

The deal, which includes $5 billion in equity and OpenAI’s 23% stake in io acquired in the fourth quarter of 2024, is expected to be completed in the summer, pending regulatory approval. Io will remain independent and continue to work on projects separate from OpenAI.

The purchase – which is the largest in OpenAI’s history – comes after it agreed to buy AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for $3 billion and analytics database company Rockset for an undisclosed amount in 2024.

Ive and Altman first began quietly collaborating two years ago to “develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products.”

“AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world. No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary,” Altman said in a statement. “What it means to use technology can change in a profound way. I hope we can bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.”

Ive first joined Apple in 1992 and would be promoted to senior vice president of industrial design in the late 1990s following the return of co-founder Steve Jobs. He would be appointed chief design officer in 2015 and serve in that role until his departure from the tech giant in 2019 – the same year he founded LoveFrom. Ive played a key role in the design of the Apple Watch, iMac, Power Mac G4 Cube, iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and the user interface of Apple’s mobile operating system iOS.

“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,” Ive added. “While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration. The values and vision of Sam and the teams at OpenAI and io are a rare inspiration.”

In addition to Ive, io is co-founded by Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. The trio will report to OpenAI vice president of product Peter Welinder, who will oversee the io division.

OpenAI, which is the creator of the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT, raised $40 billion in March, bringing the company’s total valuation to $300 billion.

Per the New York Times, OpenAI expects about $3.7 billion in sales this year and about $11.6 billion next year.

Ive and Altman’s first devices are slated to debut in 2026, per Bloomberg.

The post OpenAI Teams With iPhone Designer Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal to Create AI Devices appeared first on TheWrap.