Ex-Apple exec Jony Ive joins OpenAI in $6.5 – Business News
Famed iPhone designer Jony Ive is becoming a member of OpenAI after his artificial intelligence {hardware} startup was acquired by the ChatGPT maker in an all-stock deal valued at practically $6.5 billion, the company introduced on Wednesday.
OpenAI’s acquisition of Ive’s firm, known as io, is the biggest in the Sam Altman-led company’s historical past. Ive is best recognized for carefully collaborating with Apple’s Steve Jobs to develop the company’s most well-known merchandise.
Ive, who left Apple in 2019, will “assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io” as half of the deal, in line with a press release.
Heather Pegg Ive, left, and Jony Ive attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibition on Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
The partnership may put OpenAI in direct competitors with Apple, which continues to be reliant on iPhone gross sales for the majority of its income.
San Francisco-based io had already poached a pair of key ex-Apple executives, Tang Tan, who led the groups liable for iPhone design and Apple Watch, and Evans Hankey, who took over from Ive as Apple’s prime designer earlier than leaving in 2023. Both will be part of Ive at OpenAI.
“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,” Ive stated in a assertion. “While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration.”
Apple shares have been down more than 2% in trading Wednesday, with losses accelerating after information of the collaboration surfaced.
OpenAI pays $5 billion in stock as half of the transaction. Altman’s firm already held a stake in io previous to the takeover. The deal is predicted to close this summer season pending regulatory approval.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Ive and Altman stated their first product is predicted to debut in 2026. A complete of 55 staff, together with software program builders and {hardware} engineers, will work for OpenAI below the io umbrella.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is pictured. AFP by way of Getty Images
“AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world,” Altman stated in a assertion. “No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.”
Prior to the deal, Altman and Ive have been already collaborating on development of an AI-centric gadget since 2023 – although stories have differed on whether or not the gadget is best described as a smartphone, a pill or an totally new format.
OpenAI is designing its own AI-powered gadget. ymgerman – stock.adobe.com
OpenAI lately secured a $300 billion valuation and is locked in heated competitors with the likes of Google, Elon Musk’s xAI and others to remain forward in the race to develop superior AI.
Last month, The Information reported that OpenAI had mentioned a potential “full acquisition” of Ive’s firm.
