In the largest acquisition in its history, OpenAI is set to acquire the stealthy startup io, securing a high-profile team led by famed former Apple designer Jony Ive. The $6.5 billion deal marks a strategic expansion by OpenAI into consumer hardware as it seeks to create devices tailored for the age of artificial general intelligence (AGI).
The acquisition will give OpenAI a dedicated hardware unit and access to a team of approximately 55 engineers, software developers, and manufacturing experts. These professionals, many of whom worked under Ive at Apple, were instrumental in designing iconic products such as the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iPod, and Apple Watch.
“I have a growing sense that everything I’ve learned over the last 30 years has brought me to this place and to this moment,” said Ive in a joint interview. “It’s the relationships and the way we work together that I think will bring us products, products, and more products.”
Ive, who left Apple in 2019, has largely stayed out of the spotlight since founding his design firm. While Apple CEO Tim Cook suggested at the time that the company and Ive would continue to collaborate, no joint products ever materialized. Now, Ive embarks on a new chapter with Altman — whom he called a “rare visionary” — to develop what the two describe as an entirely new class of AI-native devices.
The deal, expected to close this summer pending regulatory approval, includes a $5 billion equity payment for io. An additional $1.5 billion stems from an earlier partnership in which OpenAI acquired a 23% stake in the company in late 2024.
Investors in io include Emerson Collective, the philanthropic firm founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, along with Sutter Hill Ventures, Thrive Capital, Maverick Ventures, and SV Angel. OpenAI emphasized that Altman holds no personal equity stake in io.
At the core of this partnership is a shared vision to design computing devices that can fully harness the capabilities of advanced AI. Altman noted that the leap AI represents requires a rethinking of how humans interact with technology. “AI is such a big leap forward in terms of what humans can do that it needs a new type of computing form factor to get the most out of it,” he said.
The duo has been exploring ideas for nearly two years, with io initially focused on building products for the AGI era — technologies that mirror human-like cognition. That mission will now continue within OpenAI, positioning the company as a potential disruptor to the very tech ecosystem Ive once helped shape.
This bold move also underscores the challenges facing Apple, which has fallen behind rivals in the AI race. The company’s AI platform, launched in 2024, lags in performance and relies in part on OpenAI’s ChatGPT to fill functionality gaps.
Nonetheless, both Altman and Ive believe the smartphone era isn’t over — yet. “Just like the smartphone didn’t replace the laptop, I don’t think our first product will replace the smartphone,” Altman said. “It’s a whole new type of thing.”
Ive added, “The phone as it is now is a great general-purpose device,” but predicted that people will soon interact with artificial intelligence in “very new ways.”
This acquisition follows OpenAI’s recent purchase of Windsurf, a startup specializing in AI tools for software engineers, and the announcement of SWE-1 — its first family of AI models designed for software development.
