Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is aiming to design hardware built from the ground up for artificial intelligence, rather than retrofitting decades-old paradigms. In 2025, the company acquired Jony Ive’s startup, the former chief design officer at Apple, for $6.5 billion in equity. The first product from this collaboration will be a portable, battery-powered smart speaker targeted for 2027 with a price point between $200 and $300. Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI alleging trade-secret violations connected to these hardware projects, adding a legal variable to an already tight timeline. Competitors are responding: Apple is deepening Siri integration into its devices, Google is embedding Gemini across Pixel hardware, and Amazon continues to develop Alexa.
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