Sam Altman and Jony Ive, former Apple design chief, have officially joined forces to develop an AI-powered personal device that won't resemble a smartphone. They are currently seeking funding of up to $1 billion.
Tuesday, April 9, 2024A secret startup co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Apple design chief Jony Ive is in talks with significant venture capitalists for funding of up to $1 billion. The startup has held discussions with Emerson Collective, a venture capital firm founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, and Thrive Capital, an OpenAI investor. The startup's personal AI product aims to challenge the conventional smartphone experience and feature several OpenAI technologies, including its most advanced GPT models.
Former Apple chief designer Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are collaborating on an AI hardware project. They are now seeking $1 billion in funding and discussing investments with Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective. Ive's iconic designs for Apple and Altman's generative AI expertise make them a powerful duo. Still, it's being determined what their AI device will entail and whether it will directly compete with Apple's products.
LoveFrom, founded by Jony Ive, partnered with Moncler on a modular shell jacket collection featuring a down-filled vest with interchangeable outer layers. The key to this design is the innovative "duo button," which uses magnets to seamlessly swap jacket layers, eliminating the fuss of traditional fasteners. The partnership is also symbolized in the duo button's design, which features logos of both brands and fun, cartoon-inspired details inside the jacket.
This article looks at Jony Ive's work post-Apple and his plans for the future. Ive has quietly accumulated nearly $90 million worth of real estate on a single city block in San Francisco. The purchases began early in the pandemic when many tech luminaries were fleeing the city. He has turned the buildings into home bases for his projects, one for his agency's work on automotive fashion, and travel products and another for a new artificial intelligence device company he is developing with OpenAI.
Jony Ive has confirmed he is collaborating with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on an AI hardware project funded by Ive and the Emerson Collective. The project employs ten people, including key figures from the iPhone design team. LoveFrom, Ive's company, leads the design from its new San Francisco office. The device aims to leverage generative AI for advanced user interactions. Specifics about the device and a release date have yet to be announced.