Jony Ive, the genius designer behind Apple’s greatest products, has teamed up with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, on a super secretive project to build an AI device. This has got the tech world buzzing because a world class designer and an AI visionary working together means a product that could change the consumer tech landscape.
A Dream Team
Ive was the key designer behind Apple’s most loved products – the iPhone, iPad and MacBook – and left Apple in 2019 to start his own design firm, LoveFrom. Altman has been at the forefront of AI driven products that have changed language processing and machine learning. Their partnership is the intersection of design innovation and AI, so we expect a product that will change how we interact with AI.
According to sources the device will put AI into users’ daily lives without the complexity. That’s the Ive way. So it will be different to other AI products out there. Details of the project are under wraps but with these two titans of their industries working together we expect a product that will take AI interaction to a new level of simplicity and beauty.
What’s the Idea
Neither Ive nor Altman have commented on the project but sources close to the project say the goal is to create a device that gives users AI capabilities without the complexity of a high tech gadget. That’s in line with Ive’s design philosophy which is simplicity, clarity and user centred design. Altman’s AI expertise adds to that vision and makes this a potential disruptor in the consumer AI space.
This is a natural extension of Altman’s mission to make AI available to the masses. OpenAI has developed the widely used GPT-3 and GPT-4 models and has been at the forefront of putting AI into consumer applications. But those have been through software platforms – chatbots or embedded systems. This is OpenAI’s first foray into creating consumer hardware that hosts and runs advanced AI.
“Ive’s way is about products that are both beautiful and incredibly functional and intuitive,” says a source. “Adding AI to that is a new layer. Imagine a device that looks great and feels great in your hand and anticipates your needs and responds to you in a way that feels natural and easy.”
