Interesting turn of events. Jony Ive takiing on design role at OpenAI having sold his design firm to OpenAI for $6.5 Bn.

Former Apple Design Guru Jony Ive to Take Expansive Role at OpenAI

OpenAI to buy Ive’s startup in $6.5 billion deal, as Ive and CEO Sam Altman work on new generation of devices and other AI products. They have been secretly collaborating on a project to ” move consumers beyond screens” in the future. Ive considers screen addiction to be toxic. Few would disagree.

Here follows an interview wwith Karen Swisher on the topic.

 

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May 21, 2025 at 1:00 pm

Kara Swisher and Jony Ive in conversation at a conference.

Jony Ive, a chief architect of the iPhone, and his design firm are taking over creative and design control at OpenAI, where they will develop consumer devices and other projects that will shape the future look and feel of AI.

 

OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, have been working on a new device that will move consumers beyond screens, according to people familiar with the matter. They have been collaborating for two years on a closely-guarded project, considering options including headphones and other devices with cameras, the people said. 

 

The former Apple employee’s AAPL -1.70% work at OpenAI will extend across all the company’s ventures, from future versions of ChatGPT to audio features, its app and other products, according to people familiar with the matter. 

 

London-born Ive left Apple in 2019 to found LoveFrom, a design firm that’s worked for Ferrari, Airbnb and the luxury Italian fashion firm Moncler. Ive also leads io, a company founded last year to design and develop a new family of AI-powered products. 

 

As part of an unusual deal announced Wednesday, OpenAI will also acquire io in an all-equity deal that values it at $6.5 billion. OpenAI acquired a 23% stake in io late last year, people familiar with the matter said. OpenAI’s startup fund also invested at the time.

 

WSJ. Magazine’s 2022 Design Innovator – Jony Ive

WSJ. Magazine’s 2022 Design Innovator – Jony Ive

Jony Ive was recognized as a design innovator at WSJ. Magazine’s annual Innovator awards in 2022. Animation by Jo Ratcliffe.

The acquisition of the rest of Ive’s io puts an executive who helped change the relationship between consumers and technology at the forefront of a new era of devices. While Ive and Altman have yet to say so publicly, their effort is focused on moving consumers away from screens, the people said. 

 

Io’s staff of roughly 55 engineers, scientists, researchers, physicists and product development specialists will become part of OpenAI, while LoveFrom continues to operate independently. 

 

OpenAI will be a customer of LoveFrom and LoveFrom will receive a stake in OpenAI, people familiar with the matter said. The companies expect the transaction to close this summer pending regulatory approval. 

 

“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,” Ive said in a statement. Altman said he hopes the team can “bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.”

 

Ive and Altman said in a joint statement that their work together grew out of friendship and collaboration. 

 

Altman has long been fond of Apple and was eager to strike a deal with the iPhone-maker when the company sought partnerships for the rollout of Apple Intelligence about a year ago. He has idolized Apple co-founder Steve Jobs even though Altman has been outspoken in his criticism of smartphones and what he sees as toxic aspects of screen addiction.

 

Tim Cook and Jonathan Ive presenting a new Apple Mac Pro.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple’s Chief Design Officer Jonathan Ive looked over the new Mac Pro Display and computer during Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in 2019. Photo: brittany hosea-small/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

OpenAI’s acquisition of io points to its growing ambitions as a more consumer-centric company focused on mass-market products and impact. Altman recently hired Facebook and Instacart veteran Fidji Simo, an operations-focused executive, who’s tasked with helping the company become a profitable and publicly traded company.

 

Altman has taken a number of steps to explore device and hardware options, investing in 2020 in the startup Humane, which launched what it called the Ai Pin with OpenAI’s technology that failed to catch on with consumers.

 

While much of Ive’s work at Apple revolved around the specific look and feel of products in the physical world, he also took greater responsibility for software issues on certain devices toward the end of his tenure there.

 

Write to Keach Hagey at Keach.Hagey@wsj.com and Berber Jin at berber.jin@wsj.com