Sam Altman and Jony Ive are teaming up to build a potential iPhone killer

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has approached former Apple design guru Jony Ive’s company, LoveFrom, about building the ChatGPT-maker’s first consumer device – the “iPhone of artificial intelligence” – according to multiple reports.

Ive, who was instrumental in the creation of the actual iPhone, has reportedly held multiple brainstorming discussions with Altman about what the device would look like and how it would operate. As outlined by The Financial Times:

• The pair are hoping to create a more natural and intuitive user experience for interacting with AI, in the same way the iPhone’s innovations in touchscreen computing unleashed the mass-market potential of the mobile internet.
• However, discussions are still early, with no specific decisions having been made.

AI fuel incoming: The venture has secured private funding from the Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs’s company, and is in advanced talks with Softbank regarding a $1+ billion investment. Masayoshi Son, Softbank’s CEO and founder, has also been involved in some discussions, per the FT, and is pushing for Arm – the chip designer in which his conglomerate holds a 90% stake – to play a central role.

🤖📱 Zoom out: The Ive/Altman project will have to succeed where others have failed. So far, attempts to build standalone AI devices have done nothing but deliver subpar products – just look at Rabbit and Humane, whose debut product, the AI Pin, is selling so badly the company is seeking a bailout.