Jony Ive, Apple’s former head of design, is reportedly working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on a new AI-powered personal device with the pair now seeking funding for the new project.
The news, shared by The Information, means that the pair have teamed up on what could be a new device similar to the Humane AI pin or something along those lines. Notably, Altman is also a major investor in Humane so there are clear links there.
Details on exactly what the product will be are hard to come by right now but it apparently won’t be like a smartphone, something that will surely be music to the ears of Apple’s executives. This also isn’t the first time that we’ve heard that the pair are working together after information surfaced last fall. However, things seem to have now progressed somewhat with the two people now thought to be seeking funding to the tune of $1 billion.
It’s thought that while OpenAI would be an investor, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son has also been sounded out. Other investors include the venture capital firm founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, someone that Ive obviously knows well from his time at Apple and his close relationship with Steve Jobs and his wife.
Ive famously left his role at Apple back in 2019 to form the LoveFrom design firm. He is thought to have consulted for Apple although there has reportedly been no connection between LoveFrom and Apple since 2022. That may have been in part due to Ive’s plans to move into the technology world either as part of this partnership with Sam Altman or something else entirely.