OpenA Ive: The Sam Altman Jive is Alive

June 16, 2025

Look out, Tim Apple, your pie may be burning. According to Fox News, “OpenAI’s $6.5B New Acquisition Signals Apple’s Biggest AI Crisis Yet.” The purchase in question? AI device startup io, founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive. “Cyber Guy” Kurt Knutsson tells us:

“This isn’t your typical business deal. It’s a collaboration between Sam Altman, who leads OpenAI, and the designer responsible for some of Apple’s most iconic products, including the iPhone and Apple Watch. Together, they want to create a new generation of AI-powered devices that could completely change how we use technology.”

Altman is trusting Ive and his team of (largely) Apple expats to propel OpenAI to the forefront of a “screenless” tech future. What, exactly, that will look like remains a mystery—a tantalizing one, if the pair has their way. Knutsson writes:

“While Altman and Ive are keeping most details secret, they have hinted at a family of AI devices that focus on seamless, intuitive interaction rather than screens. They want to create something that understands your context, adapts to your needs and helps you connect and create in new ways, all without requiring you to stare at a display. The device won’t be a phone or a pair of glasses but something entirely new that fits into your life as naturally as a MacBook or iPhone once did.”

Contrast this ambitious vision with Apple’s current position as a relative laggard in the AI field. Unlike Google, which tried to overtake Apple on the same AI racetrack, OpenAI plans to blaze a new path. Not only is the firm working on a new paradigm, it hopes to rapidly overtake the market when it gets there. We learn:

“OpenAI’s ambition is huge. In fact, they want to ship 100 million units faster than any company has ever done with a new product, which shows just how big their vision is.”

Will Apple be able to weather this innovation assault? Will tech devices soon ditch the display? Will OpenAI buy Google Chrome? Will soft AI carry the day? So many questions.

Cynthia Murrell, June 16, 2025

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Acquisition, AI, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.