OpenAI and Jony Ive’s startup deal has reached an end. What to expect next?
No lawsuit could stop the deal between two AI-oriented companies.
Image by Shutterstock.
No lawsuit could stop the deal between two AI-oriented companies.
OpenAI has finalized a $6.5 billion deal to acquire an AI device company co-founded by Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief.
According to Bloomberg, the biggest investment in OpenAI’s history is supposed to equip the company with a unit to develop AI-powered devices.
The deal between OpenAI and AI hardware startup io was first announced in May. However, not long after, Sam Altman’s company was involved in a trademark dispute.
More from Cybernews
Sainsbury’s installs more facial rec tech in stores: Should shoppers be worried?
"Phantom squatting” uses AI hallucinated domains for cyber attacks
What they’re doing to gamers is a robbery in broad daylight
Irish parliament expands Microsoft use, despite the EU’s efforts to ditch it
Can government AI actually scrub UAP footage from the internet?
The EU and Apple CEO Tim Cook held "constructive" talks after their Siri AI dispute in Europe
Another company with a similar name, iyO Inc., filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, which banned the company from using the “io” name due to its similarity to iyO Inc. This situation caused OpenAI to remove all of the material online indicating the partnership between Atlman and Ive’s companies.
The lawsuit also revealed some details about OpenAI’s first device. It was reported that the future device “is not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device.”
Perhaps iyO Inc.'s AI-powered in-ear device impacted the decision on what the company's first hardware should be.
Now, OpenAI sees its future gadget as a “third device” used alongside smartphones and laptops. Nevertheless, the device isn’t expected until 2026.