When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. OpenAI acquires Jony Ive's startup to focus on AI-first hardware Pradeep Viswanathan Neowin @pradeepviswav · May 21, 2025 15:54 EDT Jony Ive is a renowned designer in the technology industry and led the Apple design teams responsible for the wildly popular iPhone, MacBook, Apple Watch, and others. His designs have been described as integral to the successes of Apple’s products over the years. He left Apple in 2019 and started an independent design firm named LoveFrom. In 2024, Ive and a few others created a new startup called io exploring hardware designs for the AI world and also began collaborating with OpenAI. Later in 2024, OpenAI's startup fund made an investment in io and also extended its investment to own about 23% of io. Today, OpenAI announced that it is acquiring Ive's io in a $6.5 billion all-stock deal. According to WSJ, io has a staff of around 55 engineers, scientists, researchers, physicists, and product development specialists. Jony Ive and his team will work on AI hardware, and their work is expected to be made public in 2026. In addition, this new team will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the following regarding the io acquisition: “AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world. No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.” Jony Ive said the following about joining OpenAI: “I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment. 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. The values and vision of Sam and the teams at OpenAI and io are a rare inspiration.” This acquisition highlights OpenAI's ambition towards integrating hardware design with its advanced AI research, potentially developing AI-native devices. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed