2026 may turn out to be the year of OpenAI’s first hardware product, according to the company’s policy chief. Meanwhile, Jony Ive’s ‘io’ team at OpenAI has made a notable Apple veteran hire.
First, Ina Fried and Dave Lawler report for Axios from Davos:
OpenAI is “on track” to unveil its first device in the second half of 2026, the company’s policy chief, Chris Lehane, said Monday at Axios House Davos. (…) Lehane didn’t commit to the device actually going on sale this year but said OpenAI was “looking at something in the latter part (of 2026).”
So maybe not shipping hardware this year, but at least an unveiling if development continues to progress, it seems. This lines up with industry reports that set expectations for a 2027 hardware launch, although an official announcement this year is certainly exciting.
Meanwhile, engineer and interface designer Janus Trivedi “joined the (OpenAI) × LoveFrom design team, working on io products,” after previously working on SpringBoard at Apple. Trivedi “built Split View, Multitasking Drag & Drop, iPad Pointer Gestures, and more for iPadOS 15,” according to LinkedIn.
OpenAI leader Sam Altman and famed ex-Apple designer Jony Ive announced last May that the duo was collaborating on a family of AI hardware products.
The pair recently revealed that the first prototype was readied as development continues. Earlier this month, The Information reported that OpenAI was bolstering its audio models ahead of unveiling a largely audio-based hardware product.
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