Top Apple analyst expects io's first AI product to enter mass production in 2027, and have an iPod Shuffle-like body. Here's what we know.

Another hint Altman and Ive gave the WSJ is that the product will be "capable of being fully aware of a user’s surroundings and life," and "unobtrusive.'"Again, painting the picture of a small smart pin that you can place anywhere.

In a move that casts a shadow across Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developer’s Conference, OpenAI has announced that it will purchase io, the AI startup founded by acclaimed former Apple designer Sir Jony Ive, who helped create the iMac, iPod, and iPhone.

The Verge team has a few guesses about the first hardware release from the OpenAI and io combination. Let us know yours in the comments. * Richard Lawler: Speaker / projector combo. * Wes Davis and Andrew Liszewski: Her-style earbud plus puck controller.

OpenAI just made its biggest move yet — buying Jony Ive's AI startup — with hopes of building something that feels as magical as the first iPhone.

The hand of Jony Ive is all around us: on our desks, in our pockets, in our palms. More than any other living designer, Apple’s former design chief has shaped and contoured our day-to-day experience. Yet unlike the buzzing, attention-hungry iPhone – his most earth-shaking effigy – the man himself is much less forthcoming.

While announcing a reportedly $6.5 billion team-up on AI hardware between his startup, io, and OpenAI, Jony Ive spoke to Bloomberg and commented on last year’s attempts at making AI hardware happen, the Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin: There have been public failures as well,