Summary:
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OpenAI’s first physical AI device prototype may be revealed to the public in less than two years.
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The design philosophy behind the device emphasizes simplicity, beauty, and playfulness, aiming to invite interaction effortlessly.
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The partnership between Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman focuses on stripping away traditional hardware complexity with advanced AI.
OpenAI’s jump from software to physical products is taking shape faster than expected. During an onstage interview with Laurene Powell Jobs at Emerson Collective’s Demo Day in San Francisco, Apple’s former chief design officer Jony Ive confirmed that the company’s first AI device is already in prototype form. When pressed about timing, he said the public could see it in “less than” two years.
The conversation, later made public through both The Verge and Axios, marked the most detail Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have shared since their partnership was announced in 2023.
Altman described the device’s development as a process of refinement, saying the hardware is “simple and beautiful and playful.” He recalled an earlier version that didn’t feel right until a breakthrough moment: “There was an earlier prototype that we were quite excited about, but I did not have any feeling of, ‘I want to pick up that thing and take a bite out of it,’ and then finally we got there all of a sudden.”
While the product remains tightly under wraps, reports circulating for months suggest it may be screen-free and roughly the size of a smartphone. The goal, according to Altman, is an object that invites interaction rather than intimidating it. “I hope that when people see it, they say, ‘That’s it!’” he said. Ive immediately responded, “Yeah, they will.”
The pair also touched on the philosophy guiding the design, which leans heavily into Ive’s signature minimalism. “I love solutions that teeter on appearing almost naive in their simplicity,” he told Powell Jobs. He emphasized that technology should feel effortless — something people “want to touch,” use “almost carelessly,” and integrate seamlessly into daily life.
Altman echoed that mindset, adding that advanced AI allows the team to strip away traditional hardware complexity. “AI can do so much for you that so much can fall away,” he said. “And the degree to which Jony has chipped away at every little thing that this doesn’t need to do or doesn’t need to be in there is remarkable.”
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Emerson Collective’s Demo Day also featured robotics presentations from FieldAI and a fireside conversation with Robert De Niro and artist JR, highlighting the event’s focus on innovation across creative and technical fields.
