When former Apple design chief Jony Ive struck up a friendship with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman back in 2023, few could have predicted they’d end up on stage together unveiling a new frontier in consumer tech. But after LoveFrom’s spin-out hardware lab, io, caught Altman’s eye, OpenAI agreed to acquire the startup in an all-equity deal valued at $6.5 billion—a move Altman said could add $1 trillion in value to the company’s balance sheet. LoveFrom itself remains independent, with Ive’s studio taking charge of design across both OpenAI’s software and future hardware lines.

A “third core device” that isn’t a phone or glasses

According to an internal staff briefing reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Altman positioned this new gadget as the “third core device” in your personal tech ecosystem—alongside your laptop and smartphone—but made clear it’s not:

• A phone (OpenAI has no plans to launch its own handset)
• Wearable eyewear (Ive’s team famously balked at anything you have to strap to your face, especially after the uneven reception to Humane’s AI Pin)
• A smart speaker or home hub

Instead, the device will be pocket-size, contextually aware, and screen-free, designed to “fade entirely into the background” while still offering instant AI assistance wherever you are.

Altman reportedly told staff that the gadget:

• “Understands your life and surroundings” by tapping into built-in sensors and on-device AI
• Will ship faster than any company has ever shipped 100 million units of a brand-new product, with an eye on hitting that mark well ahead of rivals
• Is slated for a late 2026 release, giving OpenAI plenty of runway to refine hardware, scale manufacturing, and secure component supplies

Meanwhile, supply-chain guru Ming-Chi Kuo suggests the form factor may be “slightly larger” than Humane’s AI Pin—enough that it can’t hide behind a pocket clip, yet small enough to stow alongside your keys—and that one use case might be hanging it around your neck on a lanyard of sorts.

Ive has been vocal about the “unintended consequences” of the iPhone’s screen-centric age, arguing that staring into rectangles all day exacts a cognitive and creative toll. In his own words, this new product represents “a new design movement”—one that liberates users from screens while still delivering bite-sized, ambient intelligence that feels almost invisible.

Altman echoed that vision on the call: “We have the chance to do the biggest thing we’ve ever done as a company here,” he said, underscoring how pivotal this partnership could be for OpenAI’s pivot from pure-play AI research into the hardware realm.

If OpenAI and LoveFrom pull this off, it could reshape how we think about consumer AI:

1. New category creation: Just as the iPod shuffle redefined portable music, this device aims to inaugurate a “post-screen” era.
2. Hardware + AI fusion: Bringing together Apple-grade design and OpenAI’s cutting-edge models may set the bar for ambient intelligence.
3. Competition on notice: By keeping details locked down until production scales, OpenAI hopes to avoid a repeat of the Humane Pin’s rocky rollout—and stay a step ahead of Big Tech.

That said, skeptics point to previous AI-hardware flops (remember the vapid smart displays and ill-fated wearables?) and question whether context-awareness alone can win hearts. Still, with Ive’s knack for intuitive design and Altman’s bankroll and distribution prowess, this project—slated to break cover in Q4 2026—is one to watch.

Jony Ive’s next big thing won’t sit in your pocket like another smartphone, or perch on your face like AR glasses. It’ll live somewhere in between—an unobtrusive AI companion that senses context, responds instantly, and aims to wean us off the tyranny of screens. Whether it’s the dawn of a genuine post-screen revolution or yet another niche gadget remains to be seen—but the ambition (and the patent-pending prototypes) are very real.