According to reports, Jony Ive, a former Apple chief design officer, is in talks with OpenAI to create the “iPhone of artificial intelligence,” with help from Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank, who has committed over $1 billion in finance. According to a recent Financial Times article, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wants to work with Ive’s design company LoveFrom to create OpenAI’s first consumer product. The two had brainstorming sessions on the design of such a product in Ive’s San Francisco studio. The Information broke the story of the project on Tuesday.
Ive and Altman want to develop a tool that offers a “more natural and intuitive user experience” when interacting with artificial intelligence, according to three people with knowledge of the idea. The two have drawn inspiration from the way that the touchscreen on the first iPhone revolutionized how we engage with mobile internet. Son is reportedly extending financial support for the initiative and has pushed for Arm, a chip design company in which Son owns a 90% share, to play a key role.
Ive was a key figure in the development of the first iPhone, but the former Apple designer has previously voiced worries that compulsive behavior may be brought on by smartphones. In an interview with the Financial Times in 2018, Ive stated that tech companies should attempt to foresee as many unintended consequences as possible while developing new products and that Apple had a “moral responsibility” to reduce the addictive nature of their technology.
Ive might be able to contribute to the development of an interactive computing device that is less dependent on screens thanks to the partnership with OpenAI, according to Financial Times sources. Due to his investments in Humane, a hardware and software business co-founded by former Apple workers, and its development of a screenless wearable AI gadget intended to replace smartphones, Altman already has some experience in this area.
There are still many design options being evaluated for the device since the Altman, Ive, and Son project is still in its early phases. Although no agreement has been confirmed and little is known about the project, the talks are reportedly “serious.”