In May of this year, OpenAI acquired the AI device startup io Products, co-founded by former Apple chief designer Jony Ive, for $6.5 billion in an all-stock deal.After the acquisition, the io team merged with OpenAI to jointly develop a series of AI hardware products. OpenAI CEO Altman stated that they aim to create a product of unprecedented quality in the consumer hardware space. Previously, XR Vision Studio reported that OpenAI is considering developing smart glasses, recording devices, and AIPin products.
Altman and Ive recently gave an interview to Lauren Powell Jobs, founder of the Emerson Collective, where they revealed more details about the AI hardware projects they are developing. It is reported that the product already has a prototype, although Altman and Ive did not disclose detailed product information, they did share some concepts regarding its design and functionality, summarized as follows:
- It breaks the limitations of the “uniform computers we have been using for a long time.”
- The design of this product started with a question: What would it mean if the device “could know everything you have ever thought, read, or said?”
- It will become “some kind of positive participant” that acts proactively in a “non-annoying way.”
- Current devices and applications are like “walking in New York’s Times Square,” filled with flashing lights, bustling crowds, and noisy sounds. They “cannot make our lives calm and peaceful,” nor can they help us “focus on other things,” which is precisely the problem that Ive and Altman want to solve.
- If you have a trustworthy AI that can be your assistant and filter out a lot of irrelevant information with its “amazing contextual awareness of your entire life,” you can enjoy a sense of tranquility while walking in Times Square.
- The design by Ive and Altman aims to create an atmosphere of “sitting by a lake or in the most beautiful cabin in the mountains, enjoying tranquility and peace.”
- Ive has mentioned that he prefers solutions that seem almost back-to-basics in terms of simplicity and tone.
- Ive also likes “extremely intelligent, precise products that make you want to pick them up” and that are “easy to use.”
- Ive told Altman that when people have the urge to “lick or bite” this product, then the design is right. Altman feels this way about the current prototype.
- Altman commented, “Ive has streamlined every unnecessary detail, which is truly remarkable.”
- “The design of this product is simple and beautiful; if I had to describe the feeling in one word, it would be playful.” In this field, products with a “humor” element are rare, and people hope that “even in this serious era, we should not take ourselves too seriously.”
- Altman stated in the interview that Ive once said, “We want to make people smile; we want to make people happy. Regardless of the product’s function, it must achieve this.” Altman agrees with this philosophy, stating that “it is wonderful to rediscover some whimsical ideas.”
- The prototype of this product is “amazing” and “exciting” (a typical exaggerated expression).
Previous media reports indicated that the device being developed by io is a screenless “AI phone,” which will become the “third core device” after the MacBook and iPhone. It is lightweight and portable, fitting in a pocket or on a desk; its size is similar to that of an iPod Shuffle, and it can be worn around the neck; it is a pocket-sized smart device without a screen but equipped with a microphone and camera, capable of sensing the user’s life context. It is not a wearable device like glasses, watches, or headphones. Ive and Altman expect this product to be launched in less than two years (by 2027).Source: Overseas media
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