Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, commented on rumors that he is working on an “AI iPhone” in partnership with Jony Ive

Recent rumors about Apple’s former head of design, Jony Ive, being in discussions with OpenAI to build the “iPhone of artificial intelligence”, with over US$1 billion in funding from Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, have rocked the tech world. But now, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has commented on the issue.

Background:

  • According to a report in the Financial Times, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is reportedly looking to use Ive’s design company, LoveFrom, to develop OpenAI’s first consumer device.
  • During brainstorming sessions in Ive’s San Francisco studio, the pair reportedly discussed how this revolutionary product could be shaped.
  • News of the collaboration was first reported by The Information last Tuesday.
  • Three sources with knowledge of the plan revealed that Ive and Altman’s ambition was to create a device that would offer a “more natural and intuitive user experience” for interacting with artificial intelligence.
  • Inspired by the revolution that the touchscreen technology of the original iPhone brought to our interaction with the mobile internet, they have big plans.
  • Son is said to be offering funding for the project and has apparently pushed for the participation of chip design company Arm, in which he holds a 90% stake.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman response

However, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, cooled expectations of the much touted “iPhone of AI” at a recent The Wall Street Journal event.

Altman insisted that he wasn’t sure what the concept of an OpenAI hardware device designed in collaboration with former Apple employee Jony Ive would be. “I believe that every sufficiently large and new technology enables some kind of new computing platform – I have many ideas, but all in very early stages,” he said in an interview with Joanna Stern.

The OpenAI CEO also said that he doesn’t believe any AI device can overshadow the popularity of Apple’s iPhone.

I have no interest in competing with the smartphone. It’s phenomenal at what it does.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, at a WSJ event

“I believe there’s something big to be done, but I don’t know what it is yet,” Altman declared. He described OpenAI’s work on a consumer hardware device as “very nascent”.

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