OpenAI is set to acquire io, an AI device startup co-founded by Apple veteran Jony Ive, in a $6.5 billion all-stock deal, marking its largest acquisition to date. The move signals OpenAI’s push into AI-powered hardware, securing Ive’s expertise alongside former Apple designers who helped shape iconic products like the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Apple Watch.“I have a growing sense that everything I’ve learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place and to this moment,” Ive said in an interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, calling their collaboration “a relationship and a way of working together that I think is going to yield products and products and products.”
Under the deal, OpenAI will pay $5 billion in equity, with the remaining value tied to a 23% stake acquired last year. Investors in io include Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective, Sutter Hill Ventures, Thrive Capital, Maverick Capital, and SV Angel. Altman does not hold equity in io, OpenAI confirmed.
The acquisition, pending regulatory approvals, will add 55 hardware engineers, software developers, and manufacturing experts to OpenAI’s team, fueling the development of a new family of AI devices. Ive and Altman have been exploring product concepts for two years, with the first device expected to debut in 2026.Also Read: Indian household financial savings surge 16.5% in FY24 after two years of decline
