Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI has reached a significant milestone in its long-awaited hardware project. It has been announced that the prototype phase for the screenless, AI-powered pocket-sized device, co-led by company CEO Sam Altman and former Apple design genius Jony Ive, is nearly complete. The device is expected to launch in less than two years.
OpenAI Working on Hardware
OpenAI CEOs Sam Altman and Jony Ive detailed the device’s design progress during an interview with Laurene Powell Jobs at Emerson Collective’s 2025 Demo Day event.
Ive stated that the device could be available to consumers “in less than two years.” The device, whose details have not yet been fully released, is said to be screenless and designed to be approximately the size of a smartphone.
Altman described the device’s design as “simple, beautiful, and fun.” Altman stated that while previous prototypes had generated excitement in him, they didn’t inspire a desire to be held and touched by the user, and that the final design conveys exactly this feeling.
Jony Ive also made statements supporting this simplicity and playful structure. Ive said he loves solutions that appear almost naive in their simplicity, but also highly intelligent and sophisticated products that demand touch. He emphasized that this device won’t feel intimidating, but rather that it will be used as a tool, almost without thought.
In explaining the motivation for this device, Altman highlighted the constant distractions of modern technology. He stated that flashy notifications and dopamine-seeking social apps are the biggest problems with today’s devices.
In this context, the aim is for the screenless AI device to offer the user a distraction-free, simple, and tactile experience. The device’s smartphone-sized size suggests it will be a product to be carried alongside smartphones. It’s been noted that it won’t be able to meet all needs, such as banking, on its own, and that this could confine the product to a “niche” category. However, there is the possibility of radical changes to the prototype within two years.
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