OpenAI acquires former iPhone architect’s AI start-up for $6.5bn
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
OpenAI is interested in creating AI-powered consumer tech, with reports that Altman was considering headphones.
OpenAI is buying Io, the AI start-up founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and other former Apple engineers, Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan.
According to Bloomberg, the all-equity deal is valued at almost $6.5bn. While the Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI will be paying roughly $5bn in the transaction, as the company already owns 23pc of Io.
Ive and his design firm LoveFrom began quietly collaborating with OpenAI a few years ago, a blogpost on the company’s website read.
However, this proved not enough, leading to Ive and his former colleagues creating Io – a hardware company – with the aim of building a new family of devices and projects for OpenAI.
The acquisition is by far OpenAI’s largest, coming weeks after the ChatGPT-maker agreed to buy Windsurf, an AI-assisted coding tool, for $3bn.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously shown interest in AI consumer devices. He invested in Humane, a start-up that failed to catch on with its less than functional AI pin. Earlier this year, HP agreed to acquire much of Human’s assets for $116m.
Io will merge with OpenAI to work more “intimately” with the company’s research, engineering and product teams, and while Ive and LoveFrom will assume “deep” creative responsibilities across both OpenAI and Io, they will not be joining the AI giant.
However, dozens of Io engineers, software developers and experts, including other Io co-founders, will join OpenAI as part of the acquisition.
The first devices are set to be launched in 2026, with reports suggesting that Altman and LoveFrom previously considered headphones and other devices with cameras.
The acquisition comes just after Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart and a former high-ranking executive at Meta, joined OpenAI as its CEO of applications. Her hiring will allow Altman to focus on research, compute and safety at the company, he said at the time.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
Updated, 11.35am, 22 May 2025: An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect amount for Sam Altman’s investment in Humane. This error has been removed.
