The tech world held its breath this week when Sam AltmanCEO of OpenAI, and Jony Ivethe legendary designer behind the iPhone, sat next to him Laurene Powell jobs (entrepreneur and widow of Steve Jobs) at Emerson Collective’s 2025 Demo Day to discuss their progress on a project that promises to redefine the post-smartphone era.
The collaboration, which began two years ago with “Uniting Intents,” became a reality in May of this year with the two joining a project within OpenAI to create their first device, under the supervision of Yves and his team of designers. Although The product does not have an official release date yet.For, I have estimated that it could be in the market at Less than two years.
Speaking with Powell Jobs, Altman confirmed that this will be an artificial intelligence device As revolutionary as the iPhone. Through his company LoveFrom, Ive is leading the design of the devices, which seek to be a new interface for interacting with AI models, moving away from the traditional smartphone format.
For Altman, using modern electronic devices is like “walking through Times Square in New York,” saturated with bright lights and distractions. Instead, their vision is to create a user experience that feels like “being in the most beautiful cabin by the lake and in the mountains, just enjoying the peace and quiet.”
I complement this idea, noting that the initial phase of the project focused on “quasi-academic” explorations into topics such as the nature of tools, intelligence, and human relationships, even before the final product was considered. This insatiable focus on curiosity about the end result was key to the creative process. I looked for solutions that seemed “almost naive in their simplicity,” being intuitive tools that the user uses almost without thinking.
The device is designed to be “No screen” (No screen) and focuses on Voice and sensor based interactions. The assistant will be “always on” and will be able to know everything the user has thought, read or said, achieving “amazing contextual awareness of their entire life.” This proactive capability will allow the device’s internal AI to filter information and determine when it requires user intervention, seeking to be a “helpful friend” rather than a “strange partner.”
Altman revealed that after getting rid of the previous prototype that did not generate the desired emotions, the team reached an important stage. Regarding the latest model, Altman admitted this “Makes you want to bite him.”. Ive added that his goal is for the product to spark joy and make people smile, something he believes is missing in current technology products.
This year, Ive and Altman announced the collaboration publicly when talking about it io Products, the hardware development startup founded by Ive and owned by OpenAI since May.
Since then, I have been responsible for the entire design of OpenAI, although I have been an external consultant and About 55 engineers, software developers and industrial designers Which already existed EO products They became employees of OpenAI.
