Former Apple design director Jony Ive is reportedly in talks with OpenAI to build the “iPhone of artificial intelligence,” with the help of more than $1 billion in funding from Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son . According a new report from Financial times, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is looking to use Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, to develop OpenAI’s first consumer device, and the duo discussed what such a product would look like during brainstorming sessions at the Ive studio in San Francisco. News of the company was first reported by ai-hardware-project?rc=r6gev9″>Information on Tuesday.
According to three people familiar with the plan, Ive and Altman aim to create a device that provides a “more natural and intuitive user experience” for interacting with artificial intelligence. The duo was inspired by how the original iPhone’s touchscreen technology helped revolutionize our interaction with the mobile Internet. Son is offering funding for the effort and has reportedly pushed for chip design company Arm (in which Son has a 90 percent stake) to play a central role.
I have previously raised concerns about compulsive behavior related to smartphone use.
While he played a pivotal role in creating the first iPhone, the former Apple designer has previously expressed concerns about smartphones causing compulsive behaviors. in a interview with him Financial times in 2018I have said that Apple had a “moral responsibility” to mitigate the addictive nature of its technology, and that technology companies should try to predict as many unintended consequences as possible when designing new products.
According to the Financial times’ According to sources, the project with OpenAI could allow Ive to help create an interactive computing device that relies less on screens. Altman already has some experience in this thanks to his investments in Humane, a hardware and software startup co-founded by former Apple employees, which is developing a screenless wearable ai device designed to replace smartphones.
The Altman, Ive and Son project is still in its early stages and several different ideas for the device are still being considered. While no deal has been confirmed and details about the project are scarce, discussions are said to be “serious.”
