He took Apple’s hardware design to new heights – could Jony Ive do the same for the burgeoning AI hardware market?
That’s the hope for Ive’s next project, which sees the veteran designer team up with ChatGPT developer OpenAI for a new hardware device using the company’s rapidly growing AI products.
The partnership – which was rumored earlier this year – has now been confirmed by va New York Times profile which explores Ive’s post-Apple independence, including discussions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The pair have agreed to partner in a new “artificial intelligence device company” for a product “that uses AI to create a computing experience that’s less socially intrusive than the iPhone,” according to the article. Not that Apple itself is opposed to AI integrations – the latest iOS 18 release is set to receive an update that will include baked-in access to ChatGPT and OpenAI technology.
But iPhones, including brand new ones iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Prothey still use AI as a feature rather than a product itself and that will be a differentiating factor for this new device. The core will be OpenAI. What industrial design form it will take is “still being determined,” but Ive’s team has an exemplary pedigree — some of its new members have worked with him on iPhone designs over the years.
Is the device revolution coming?
Ive’s project won’t be the first to try to create a custom AI hardware design. But early forays into the market were mixed at best.
The Rabbit R1 released earlier this year and charmed with its cute phone-like design. But its true utility, replacing traditional apps with generative AI responses, has proven clumsy. Likewise, the Humane AI pin launched a lot of hype, but soon lost the limitations that its wearable form presented.
But if anyone can create an AI device form factor that actually works, it’s Ive. His meticulous attention to detail had a huge influence in the world of technology and revolutionized the design of computer equipment. If his focus was ever questioned, take this side excerpt from the article: he just spent five years working on a book about button history.
Jony Ive says he spent 5 years working on a book about buttons pic.twitter.com/PqWhQ8KYLRSeptember 23, 2024