OpenAI has made its biggest acquisition to date by purchasing io, a hardware startup founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, for $6.4 billion. The deal, announced by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive in a joint blog post, represents a significant move into hardware for the ChatGPT maker.
The Partnership
The partnership between OpenAI and io has been in development for two years, according to Altman and Ive. “A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition,” they wrote. “Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs.” The io team will now merge with OpenAI to work closely with its research, engineering, and product teams in San Francisco.
Jony Ive’s Background
Ive, known for his work on iconic Apple products such as the iPhone, iPod, and MacBook Air, left Apple in 2019 after a 27-year career. He founded LoveFrom, a “creative collective” that includes io, which was established just a year ago. While io has not yet released any hardware products, Ive’s company has worked with clients like Christie’s, Airbnb, and Ferrari.
OpenAI’s Hardware Ambitions
The acquisition signals OpenAI’s intent to expand into hardware. The company has been hiring hardware and robotics staff, including Caitlin “CK” Kalinowski, formerly of Meta’s augmented reality glasses initiative. OpenAI has also invested in Physical Intelligence, a robot startup aiming to bring “general-purpose AI into the physical world”.
Financial Backing
OpenAI’s acquisition spree is backed by significant investor funding. The company is now valued at $300 billion, following a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank in March. Microsoft also invested $13 billion in OpenAI in 2023, taking a 49% stake in the AI company.
Recent Acquisitions
In addition to io, OpenAI has made other significant acquisitions recently. It purchased the AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for $3 billion earlier this month and acquired the real-time analytics database Rockset for an undisclosed sum last summer.
