Jony Ive, famed designer of some of Apple's most iconic products, is working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on a new AI hardware project Exact details are unknown, but it is a bold move to enter a field that has so far failed to find a hit product

Speculation about a possible partnership between the two has been rife for some time, but Ive finally acknowledged the project in a New York Times profile

Little is known about the actual product, but the project has already received initial funding from Ive himself and a group run by Steve Jobs' widow, Loreen Powell Jobs There are also rumors of $1 billion in funding from Softbank

According to The Verge, 10 employees are already working to bring new products to market, including two designers who worked with Ive on the iPhone [This confirmation comes as Apple Intelligence and Apple Visual Intelligence are deeply integrated into the iPhone 16, MacBook, and iPad, and as Apple “goes all in” on AI I previously speculated that the Apple Watch could be the perfect AI device

It is not clear how much of this is by Altman and how much by Ive, but Ive's firm is leading the design work This is said to have stemmed from discussions between the two about finding hardware that could better utilize the AI's capabilities

According to the Times, they discussed the value of AI being able to “summarize and prioritize messages, identify and name objects like plants, and ultimately handle complex requests like booking travel All of this is possible with the latest AI-powered smartphones

This product is being developed in secret, on the same level as Apple products once did in the Steve Jobs era All we know is that it will be a “less socially disruptive” computing experience than the iPhone

This suggests that it will be a form of “hidden technology” that runs in the background without requiring constant interaction We have seen some hints of this in Meta Rayban's smart glasses and what Humane has attempted with Pin

I asked Claude to describe an AI device designed by Jony Ive, powered by the OpenAI model, and not as intrusive as a smartphone Claude gave me the ball rolling He declared: “OpenAI Orb: a ‘revolutionary AI assistant’ capable of ‘delivering unparalleled intelligence in an elegant spherical form that seamlessly blends into your life and space’

So far, everything I've heard about this product is similar to what Rabbit attempted with r1 It is a simple device that handles everyday computing without a traditional interface But with a significant investment, the OpenAI model, and Jony Ive, it could work