OpenAI recently revealed a major acquisition that shocked members of the tech community.
The artificial intelligence (AI) startup has been in full focus lately after abandoning its plan to switch to a for-profit structure. This development is regarded as a win for Elon Musk, one of the company’s founders, who had advocated strongly against this change, to the point of taking legal action.
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Last week, the company took a significant step forward when it revealed Codex, a software engineering agent with the ability to perform many complex tasks at the same time. Experts have speculated that this event is likely to help usher in a new era of agentic coding tools.
However, OpenAI’s most recent deal shows that it is hyper-focused on expanding its reach into new areas. This comes at a pivotal time for the tech sector, as rivals both large and small are working toward similar goals.
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OpenAI’s empire is growing, as is its leadership team
Anyone who follows tech news, or just CEO Sam Altman’s X account, knows that OpenAI’s team has been extremely busy lately, rolling out Codex and continuing to scale as GPT’s user base continues to grow. But this week brought news that the startup will be acquiring an AI device startup called io in a $6.5 billion all-stock deal.
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At first glance, this may not seem like groundbreaking news. After all, prominent tech companies acquire startups all the time. But this acquisition took the tech world by storm because OpenAI’s new deal will add a highly influential figure to its team, someone who knows about helping take companies to new heights.
You may not know the name Jony Ive, but you more than likely know his work. The technology designer is most famous for his work with Apple (AAPL) , specifically the role he played in creating some of its most popular products, including the iPhone, MacBook, and iPad. Now he will be turning his talents to OpenAI.
Altman recently posted to X, calling Ive the “greatest designer in the world” and reiterating his excitement at the prospect of working with him. However, this won’t be the start of their collaboration. As a statement shared by OpenAI notes, Ive’s creative collective LoveFrom has been working with Altman’s company for the past two years.
Now Ive is poised to assume both “ deep design and creative responsibilities” at both OpenAI and io.
“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,” he states. “The values and vision of Sam and the teams at OpenAI and io are a rare inspiration.”
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This isn’t Altman’s first step toward expanding into the world of AI hardware. In 2020, he invested in Humane, a company whose wearable AI pin, which functions as a virtual assistant, is powered by OpenAI’s software. But the high price paid by OpenAI to bring Ive on board indicates that it is more committed than ever to procuring a share of this market.
Despite Ive’s track record, experts are mixed on OpenAI’s future
Altman has made it clear that he believes the addition of Ive and his team will propel OpenAI into the next phase of AI, helping it continue shaping the fast-growing industry. He recently stated that great tools will “require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people,” adding that Ive’s ability in this area is unmatched.
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Some experts see this as an important step toward accomplishing these goals. Live Proxies CEO Jacob Kalvo spoke to TheStreet about this development, stating:
“Ive’s design philosophy is about creating devices that feel effortless, almost natural to use. He doesn’t just design objects — he designs how people feel when using them. When that kind of thinking is applied to AI, it could shift AI from something we ‘use’ to something we ‘live with.’”
However, not all experts are so convinced that OpenAI is about to expand into the hardware space. Trevolution Group’s Head of Data Science Ilia Badeev shared a different perspective on this partnership. He highlighted Ive’s role in creating the Apple ecosystem of the iPhone, MacBook, and iCloud.
“It’s more likely that OpenAI is aiming to build something similar: a well-connected ecosystem where ChatGPT works across all your tech devices in a simple and seamless way to improve and enhance your everyday tasks and experiences,” he predicts.
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