Here’s what OpenAI’s first hardware product designed by Jony Ive is rumored to be | Infinium-tech

In May, OpenAI acquired Jony Ive’s startup io (yes it’s really spelled that way), which was part of his LoveFrom Creative Design company. io was working on a secret hardware product, and now a new rumor tells us what it is.

A pen. Obviously this will not be any common pen. A previous report described it as “contextually aware”, and io is now part of OpenAI, so it will definitely be an AI pen. What will it do? Your guess is as good as ours.

Interestingly, this will be OpenAI’s first hardware product, but the company is working on two more, one of which is being called a “to-go” audio device.

Unfortunately, these are all details about the product itself. Hopefully more leaks will come soon. The pen is believed to be manufactured by Foxconn, possibly in Vietnam. The company initially chosen for manufacturing was Luxshare, but OpenAI does not want its hardware to be made in China, so a change is likely. Apparently there is also a slight chance that it will be made in the United States by Foxconn.

io cost OpenAI $6.5 billion, but not really — it was an all-stock deal, so no money actually changed hands. These hardware products will be billed as “third-core”, complementing your laptop and smartphone. Others have tried and failed to add such third devices to our lives in the past, including most recently AI “pins,” so there is no telling whether OpenAI will actually succeed. We’ll let you know when we know more.

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