Jony IVE, who designed the iPhone (among other emblematic Apple devices), is about to become the design manager for Openai, the AI Chatcpt giant which, for the moment, does not make a single material device.
The Wall Street Journal Wednesday, the imminent agreement, which sees Openai, acquire the company IO of IVE in an agreement worth $ 6.5 billion. As part of this, IVE becomes the design manager for Openai, a role in which he has slowly launched for some time.
IVE, which has directed Apple’s design for decades, has left the company in 2019 and, in recent months, has expressed doubts about the possible negative impact of the previous products on which it has worked (which could include the iPhone).
“I think that when you innovate, of course, there will be involuntary consequences, you hope that the majority will be pleasant surprises. Some products with which I have been very, very involved, I think there have been involuntary consequences which were far from pleasant,” said IVer earlier this month, according to The Verge.
Although the reports indicate that Sam Altman, CEO of Openai and Openai, is interested in building AI compatible consumption equipment, a smartphone is probably not on this menu.
Instead, most expect the duo to focus on portable devices such as headphones and smart watches that could be improved with, for example, cameras that could see your environment and use AI on board to help you act and react to them.
A gentle approach
IVE is also the emphasis on upgrading the visual attraction of OPENAI software. So expect an IVE-NESS infusion on Chatgpt on the mobile and the office (where it has a particularly technical or respectful look of developers), as well as on the Sora and Dall-E interfaces.
In the last part of his career at Apple, IVE was the most responsible for deactivating skeuomorphism – to look like their real world counterparts – on Apple platforms. Openai’s software does not suffer from the skeuomorphic scourge, but some might say that its general aspect is far from elegant.
If you are curious to know if the skills in the design of 4th are always up to par, take a look at the updated airbnb, that the company Loveform d’Ive has redesigned. LoveForm, by the way, should remain an autonomous business and will be, according to The Wall Street Journal, Work with Openai as a customer.
The news must prick the apple a little. The company, which has teamed up with OPENAI to include Chatgpt access in Apple Intelligence, has not only failed to provide its own generative AI, but is late industry to offer real hardware / software combined experience.
Upcoming equipment advice
It will be fascinating to see what Altman and Ive cook, and we already have some clues.
Altman announced the agreement by tweeting that it is “delighted to try to create a new generation of computers fueled by AI”. Literally taken, we could expect an AI PC of the team, but I think that here, Altman means “written computers” in that the smartest consumption electronics could be considered IT devices.
The tweet was accompanied by a video featuring a conversation between IVE and Altman, in which Altman described the development “of a family of devices that would allow people to use AI to create all kinds of different things”.
Without disclosing the product, there revealed that “the first on which we worked almost completely captured our imagination”. In addition, Altman added that I act had given him the device to bring home. “I was able to live with it and I think it’s the coolest technology that the world has ever seen.”
No matter what they are building, it should be remembered that the success of equipment on the road to AI is already strewn with rotten carcasses of companies that have failed as human AI. Ordinary people have not shown great interest in wearing AI equipment that does not align with their current fashion choices.
Delighted to associate with Jony, Omi the biggest designer in the world. pic.twitter.com/ipzbnrz1jqMay 21, 2025
That said, there can be an opportunity for Openai, IVE and Altman in the space of smart glasses. It is the only device area connected to AI that seems to show real signs of life. This is mainly due to Meta’s efforts with Ray Ban Meta Smart Glasses, but also evidenced by the future influx of Android XR competitors from Google Partners Samsung, Warby Parker and others. Some have been announced this week at Google I / O 2025, and all will present Gemini at the base.
Openai and Chatgpt can be threatened in the generative space of AI, but Google Gemini is close. And if Android XR Partners can deliver elegant smart glasses Gemini this year, she could quickly skip Gemini in the head. At the very least, it exerts pressure on Openai to deliver something.
Is Jony Ive the secret sauce that will make glasses, headphones, smart watches and other possible consumption materials possible? Maybe. Openai says we will see their work next year. Do not expect a chatgpt phone.
