OpenAI’s first Jony Ive device will not be a wearable

Court filings show that the first hardware device OpenAI is developing with designer Jony Ive will not be a wearable or an in-ear gadget. It is also unlikely to launch before 2026.

The man who helped design some of Apple’s most iconic products is now working on what OpenAI certainly expects to be something equally unconventional if and when it launches, according to court filings first spotted by TechCrunch.

The filings are part of a trademark lawsuit that forced OpenAI to remove all promotional material related to its $6.5 billion acquisition of Ive’s startup, io Products. Sam Altman’s company was sued by iyO, a Google-backed startup developing its own AI products.

The documents revealed that OpenAI is already in early stages of development of its AI hardware device. While the exact nature of the gadget remains unclear, the new information indicates that it will not be a conventional wearable.

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Former Apple executive Tang Tan, who co-founded io and serves as its chief hardware officer, said in a statement to the court that the prototype mentioned by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman in io’s launch video “is not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device.”

Tan also said that the design of the prototype was not yet finalized and that the product was still at least a year away from being advertised or offered for sale.

In a now-removed io’s launch video, Altman said that the startup was working on a family of AI devices. He earlier said that the final device would be able to fit in a pocket or sit on a desk and would be fully aware of the user’s surroundings, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The gadget was envisioned as a “third device” for consumers to use alongside their smartphone and laptop, the report said. Ive, for his part, noted in a promotional video that the first prototype had “completely captured” his imagination.

OpenAI’s lawyers said in a court filing that the company explored a wide range of devices, including “desktop-based and mobile, wireless and wired, wearable and portable,” according to TechCrunch.

In a declaration to the court submitted on June 12th, Altman said that “our intent with this collaboration was, and is, to create products that go beyond traditional products and interfaces.”

While the court filings indicate that OpenAI and io ruled out using in-ear devices – and, it appears, smart glasses – the companies' executives had reportedly done extensive research into earpieces, which may help explain iyO’s lawsuit.

iyO, which is developing an AI-powered in-ear device that can sync with other gadgets, claims that io infringes on its branding.

According to TechCrunch, iyO also claims that io shared a demo of its device during meetings with OpenAI executives and alleges that it is developing a similar product. OpenAI denied it was working on anything similar.