By ByteBot
The man who created the iPhone now wants to free you from it. Sam Altman and Jony Ive announced yesterday at Emerson Collective’s Demo Day in San Francisco that OpenAI has completed its first hardware prototypes—a screenless, pocket-sized AI device designed to deliver what Ive calls “peaceful” computing. The reveal comes seven months after OpenAI acquired Ive’s design firm io Products for $6.5 billion, OpenAI’s largest acquisition ever. Altman didn’t hold back his enthusiasm: “I can’t believe how jaw dropping good the work is.”
The device aims to launch within two years, targeting late 2027 or earlier. If it succeeds, it could create a new category of ambient AI companions. If it fails, it joins the growing graveyard of AI hardware that solved problems nobody actually had.
The “Lick Test”: Jony Ive’s Design Philosophy
Ive revealed that he judges designs by a simple test: you know it’s right when you “want to lick it or take a bite out of it.” Moreover, Altman confirmed they’ve finally reached that milestone with the current prototype after earlier versions fell short. This isn’t just designer theatrics—it signals serious iteration, not the rush-to-market desperation that killed Humane’s AI Pin and the Rabbit R1.
The goal, according to Ive, is to “make people smile and feel joy” regardless of what the product actually does. Furthermore, the design philosophy centers on what Ive calls “naive simplicity”—products sophisticated enough to be intelligent but simple enough to use “almost carelessly.”
However, there’s a catch. Ive’s Apple legacy cuts both ways. Yes, he designed the iPhone, iPod, and iMac—products people loved to use. He also pushed ultrathin MacBooks with butterfly keyboards that prioritized looks over function, earning criticism for form-over-function obsession. He left Apple in 2019 frustrated with Tim Cook’s operations-first culture. The question: Is this device his redemption arc or a repeat of his worst instincts?
What “Peaceful” Computing Actually Means
Altman described their vision with a vivid metaphor: smartphones feel like walking through Times Square—chaotic, bumping into people, attention demands from all sides. Consequently, their device aims to feel like “sitting in the most beautiful cabin by a lake in the mountains, just enjoying the peace and calm.”
Here’s what we know: the device is screenless, pocket-sized (not wearable), and multimodal—supporting text, sound, and sight through multiple cameras and microphones. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar called it “multimodal and provocative.” It’s designed for ambient intelligence—operating in the background, filtering noise rather than amplifying it, notifying you only when something actually matters.
What we don’t know: price, battery life, how developers will integrate with it, whether it locks you into OpenAI’s models, or how it actually works beyond vague promises of “long-term AI assistance” and “spatial awareness.”
The philosophy traces back to Mark Weiser’s 1991 “calm technology” vision at Xerox PARC: “The most profound technologies are those that disappear.” Nevertheless, as Fast Company pointed out in their critique of ambient computing, tech companies keep promising Weiser’s calm vision while delivering just “a bunch of screens.” Will OpenAI and Ive actually deliver peace, or just another device we check compulsively?
The AI Hardware Graveyard: Learning From Humane and Rabbit
Before you get excited, consider the bodies. Humane’s AI Pin launched in 2024 at $699 plus $24 monthly subscriptions, promised to replace your phone, and died by February 2025 with returns outpacing sales. Similarly, the Rabbit R1 notched 100,000 preorders but dropped to just 5,000 active users by September after shipping a product its founder later admitted was “rushed into market.”
The core criticism was brutal and simple: Why does this need to be a standalone device when it could just be an app? Indeed, GPT-4o’s release in May 2024 made the case for dedicated AI hardware even weaker—your phone can already do all of this.
OpenAI and Ive face the same fundamental questions. However, there are reasons to take this more seriously than Humane or Rabbit. The two-year timeline signals they’re not rushing. The $6.5 billion acquisition signals real commitment, not a side project. Additionally, OpenAI’s AI capabilities far exceed what Humane or Rabbit could deliver. And Jony Ive’s track record—iPhone, iPod, iMac—gives him credibility those startups never had.
Still, those are inputs, not outcomes. The graveyard is full of well-funded failures.
The $6.5 Billion Question: Visionary or Mistake?
OpenAI didn’t just partner with Ive—it bought his entire operation. io Products, founded in 2024 by Ive and former Apple designers Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan, raised $225 million from investors including Emerson Collective before OpenAI acquired a 23% stake for $1.5 billion in late 2024. The full $6.5 billion acquisition closed in July 2025, merging the io team with OpenAI while keeping Ive and his LoveFrom design firm independent but deeply involved.
That’s a huge bet on an unproven product category. Therefore, it signals OpenAI is serious about hardware, not experimenting. But it also raises the stakes: if this flops, it’s not just a failed product launch—it’s a strategic blunder that competitors will cite for years.
The debate breaks into three camps. Believers see this as the iPhone moment for AI—Altman’s vision plus Ive’s design genius rethinking how humans interact with computers. Skeptics see $6.5 billion spent on a problem that doesn’t exist, another luxury gadget for Silicon Valley’s 1%. Pragmatists say wait until 2027, then judge—prototypes don’t prove product-market fit, and execution is where AI hardware dreams go to die.
What Happens Next
The device reveal is expected within two years. Between now and then, watch for several signals. Will they announce APIs for developers, or is this a closed OpenAI garden? What’s the price point—accessible or luxury? How do Apple and Google respond—competitive devices or dismissive silence?
Most importantly, can they answer the question that killed Humane and Rabbit: Why carry another device? Until they do, the “jaw dropping good” prototypes remain just that—prototypes. In fact, the graveyard of AI hardware is littered with exciting demos that couldn’t justify their existence in the real world.
Ive’s track record suggests this could work. The industry’s recent history suggests it won’t. We’ll find out in 2027 whether this is the next iPhone or the next Humane AI Pin. The $6.5 billion bet is on the table.
