OpenAI wants to make the next move after establishing itself in the field of generative AI – step into the hardware segment. With former Apple design chief Jony Ive onboard, OpenAI is now seeking to integrate generative AI better with our world. And prior to any formal revelation of the product, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman believes that he can sell a total of 100 million units faster than any other tech product in history.
Although Altman has kept most of the product details hidden from the world, he has hinted at the product’s vision – a device to embed generative AI with our lives seamlessly. Work has been going on this upcoming AI Companion device with Jony Ive taking care of the design front. If everything falls into place, Altman believes that OpenAI could be in a position to reveal the product by the end of 2026.
OpenAI AI companion could sell 100 million units
Altman’s vision with OpenAI’s first hardware product was to reshape how humans interact with machines. These AI-powered devices will sit in your pocket, stay on your desk, and by your bedside – all in the interest of seamless integration of generative AI and our daily lives.
The companion device will be aware of the person’s surroundings and will be embedded in their daily lives without acting as an obstruction. To make that happen, Altman and Ive have decided to do away with screens. Yes, a device with no screen!
Based on the report from The Wall Street Journal, the idea of an AI companion device came up when Altman and Ive wanted to create a powerful personal computer for ChatGPT subscribers. They wanted ChatGPT to have its own platform rather than run on a website or an app. The duo figured out that the current generation of personal computers restricts AI to conventional forms of input and output, like keyboards, screens and applications. Hence, a powerful tool like ChatGPT has to exist in a dated form of a chatbot rather than something bigger.
That’s where Jony Ive wanted to enter a new design moment – a product that houses ChatGPT as its soul and relies on smarter ways to interact with the consumer. Altman wanted to create a family of such devices and, for now, the goal is to ship the first product by 2026. This AI companion will be like fulfilling a sci-fi dream, as Altman describes.
Does this sound familiar?
OpenAI’s AI companion device seems largely similar to the Humane AI Pin – a similar AI-powered computer without a screen or keyboard. The Humane AI Pin relied on voice and hand gestures to control a minimal interface and tried to provide answers to everyday queries using a LLM-based voice chatbot. Sadly, the product couldn’t sell in enough numbers and the company had to pull the plug.