Famed iPhone designer Jony Ive is becoming a member of OpenAI after his synthetic intelligence {hardware} startup was acquired by the ChatGPT maker in an all-stock deal valued at practically $6.5 billion, the corporate introduced on Wednesday.
OpenAI’s acquisition of Ive’s agency, referred to as io, is the most important within the Sam Altman-led firm’s historical past. Ive is greatest recognized for intently collaborating with Apple’s Steve Jobs to develop the corporate’s most well-known merchandise.
Ive, who left Apple in 2019, will “assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io” as a part of the deal, in response to a press launch.
The partnership may put OpenAI in direct competitors with Apple, which continues to be reliant on iPhone gross sales for the majority of its income.
San Francisco-based io had already poached a pair of key ex-Apple executives, Tang Tan, who led the groups liable for iPhone design and Apple Watch, and Evans Hankey, who took over from Ive as Apple’s high designer earlier than leaving in 2023. Each will be a part of Ive at OpenAI.
“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,” Ive stated in a press release. “While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration.”
Apple shares had been down greater than 2% in buying and selling Wednesday, with losses accelerating after information of the collaboration surfaced.
OpenAI pays $5 billion in inventory as a part of the transaction. Altman’s agency already held a stake in io previous to the takeover. The deal is predicted to shut this summer season pending regulatory approval.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Ive and Altman stated their first product is predicted to debut in 2026. A complete of 55 staff, together with software program builders and {hardware} engineers, will work for OpenAI beneath the io umbrella.
“AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world,” Altman stated in a press release. “No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.”
Previous to the deal, Altman and Ive had been already collaborating on growth of an AI-centric gadget since 2023 – although stories have differed on whether or not the gadget is greatest described as a smartphone, a pill or a wholly new format.
OpenAI lately secured a $300 billion valuation and is locked in heated competitors with the likes of Google, Elon Musk’s xAI and others to remain forward within the race to develop superior AI.
Final month, The Info reported that OpenAI had mentioned a possible “full acquisition” of Ive’s agency.
