OpenAI Buys Jony Ive’s io for $6.5 B, Sets Sights on AI-First Consumer Hardware

OpenAI has inked its biggest deal yet, snapping up Sir Jony Ive’s year-old hardware startup io in an all-equity transaction worth $6.5 billion. The acquisition folds Ive’s 55-person team of ex-Apple design veterans into a new hardware division at OpenAI, where early prototypes hint at a screen-less, voice-first device powered by the company’s multimodal AI models. Chief executive Sam Altman called Ive “the greatest designer in the world,” saying the partnership aims to create “a new generation of AI-powered computers.”

The all-stock structure preserves OpenAI’s cash war chest and lets io’s staff ride the AI firm’s sky-high valuation—about $300 billion after its latest funding round. Critics note that io is pre-revenue, but insiders say LoveFrom, Ive’s design collective, already brings in roughly $200 million a year from consultancy work, giving the unit real economic weight. Market reaction was swift: Apple slipped two percent on fears that its former design chief may help OpenAI steal consumer mind-share with a fresh hardware play.

Altman says the first product could land in 2026 and “won’t look like a phone”—more an ambient companion that surfaces information the moment you speak. Ive won’t take a formal executive role; instead, LoveFrom will steer design across OpenAI’s portfolio while io staff report to VP of Product Peter Welinder in San Francisco. If successful, the move could set off a race for vertically integrated AI hardware, combining bespoke chips, world-class design, and frontier-model intelligence in one seamless package.