OpenAI announced the acquisition of Jony Ive’s design firm io for $6.5 billion all in equity. (Presumably “io” refers to input/output, which curiously is also the name of Google’s big conference I/O.) To put this acquisition into perspective, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006, valued at $2.62 billion in today’s dollars.
Ive is the former head of design at Apple who famously worked for Steve Jobs to revive the company with stylish new products, including the iMac, iPod, and iPhone, which are now iconic. Ive is legendary as a designer and started his own firm, LoveFrom, after retiring from Apple. Ive also founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan, a company apparently devoted to AI devices.
Ive’s been partnering with Sam Altman and OpenAI in developing a new AI device. This acquisition is likely to accelerate that development. In the video, speaking about the new device, Ive even told Altman “this is the best work our team has ever done.” Altman’s been playing around with a prototype of the AI device and says, “I think it’s the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.”
According to the New York Times, “The deal, which is OpenAI’s biggest acquisition, will bring in Mr. Ive and his team of roughly 55 engineers, designers and researchers. They will assume creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and build hardware that helps people better interact with the technology.”
Here’s OpenAI’s announcement:
A big question is whether such an AI device will substitute for or simply complement existing smartphones, including the iPhone. It seems like it could go either way. But as wedded people are to their smartphones, an AI device might simply complement smartphones. People will carry both.
Gene Munster, an analyst that follows Apple, does not see the expected AI device as too much of a threat to Apple in the near term, but sees a need for Apple to innovate.
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