OpenAI Reportedly Considering ~$500 Million Takeover of io Products - a Smart AI Device Startup Founded by Sam Altman

T0@st · Apr 8, 2025

At some point in 2023, Sam Altman founded a new AI hardware device firm: io Products. Last September, Jony Ive confirmed his involvement in this startup tech company. Industry whispers suggest that Open AI's CEO (Altman) and the former Apple chief designer (Ive) were collaborating on the making of voice-enabled smart AI assistant household products. According to a (paywalled) The Information news article, this fledgling operation attracted an "undisclosed amount of funding" from wealthy benefactors. The "small team" is reportedly working on some type of "revolutionary" screenless AI phone, but this rumored project is likely in a very early stage of development—so moles have not disclosed exact details.

The report posits that Ive has recruited Tang Tan and Evans Hankey—both high-level ex-Apple industrial leads, with long-term iPhone design experience. The Information's anonymous inside sources believe that Ive's LoveFrom boutique agency will determine the visual setup for forthcoming io Products smart devices. Additionally, the report extends to a potential takeover bid—valued at around $500 million (USD)—coming from Altman's main gig. Open AI's leadership is supposedly weighing up its options. The Information disclosed an alternative avenue; a simple partnership—rather than a comprehensive takeover.

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the54thvoid · Apr 8, 2025

Continual grift after grift. Industrial designer and aesthetics specialist teaming up with AI smoke and mirrors industry to sell you..... another soulless talking consumer item. If you take how much power AI uses, you can't remotely place it into a device, unless that device is linked to the net. So, basically, Siri, Alexa, Co-pilot, or Google. Give us a fucking break and do something useful for the world.

Leiesoldat · Apr 8, 2025

Just looks like another payout for Altman since OpenAI seems to be not making quite as much money right now as before.

sepheronx · Apr 8, 2025

the54thvoid said:
Continual grift after grift. Industrial designer and aesthetics specialist teaming up with AI smoke and mirrors industry to sell you..... another soulless talking consumer item. If you take how much power AI uses, you can't remotely place it into a device, unless that device is linked to the net. So, basically, Siri, Alexa, Co-pilot, or Google. Give us a fucking break and do something useful for the world.

Alright, I got a business plan void

You and I create an AI company. Call it "dump AI" since so many people are full of shit these days, we can create an AI system that can help them release that crap. We wont actually do anything, we just make a shit ton of promises and graphs with AI assisted created images of our application, and then we simply wait till someone buys us out for billions of dollars.

we then would be able to afford a 5090 afterwards.

cvaldes · Apr 8, 2025

I'm sure someone is already working on a service that uses that business model.

bonehead123 · Apr 8, 2025

Well, I'll be damned....

Now I know who beat my most recent bid of $499.999 Million.....hahahaha

Vayra86 · Apr 9, 2025

Tech bros working hard on their dystopian futures, scraping more and more money together because 'we're almost there... but not quite!'

Forever in beta, forever begging for more, and always promising something better than what they hadn't delivered on quite yet before.

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OpenAI Reportedly Considering ~$500 Million Takeover of io Products - a Smart AI Device Startup Founded by Sam Altman

T0@st

News Editor

the54thvoid

Super Intoxicated Moderator

Leiesoldat

lazy gamer & woodworker

sepheronx

cvaldes

bonehead123

Vayra86

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