Latest news with #Rugolo
Japan Today
11-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
AI device startup that sued OpenAI and Jony Ive now suing its own ex-employee over trade secrets
FILE - Jason Rugolo, founder and CEO of iyO, shows the motherboard of the iyO One audio computer while being interviewed at the company's office in Redwood City, Calif., Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) By MATT O'BRIEN A secretive competition to pioneer a new way of communicating with artificial intelligence chatbots is getting a messy public airing as OpenAI fights a trademark dispute over its stealth hardware collaboration with legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive. In the latest twist, tech startup iyO Inc., which already sued Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for trademark infringement, is now suing one of its own former employees for allegedly leaking a confidential drawing of iyO's unreleased product. At the heart of this bitter legal wrangling is a big idea: we shouldn't need to stare at computer or phone screens or talk to a box like Amazon's Alexa to interact with our future AI assistants in a natural way. And whoever comes up with this new AI interface could profit immensely from it. OpenAI started to outline its own vision in May by buying io Products, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion. Soon after, iyO sued for trademark infringement for the similar sounding name and because of the two firms' past interactions. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson ruled last month that iyO has a strong enough case to proceed to a hearing this fall. Until then, she ordered Altman, Ive and OpenAI to refrain from using the io brand, forcing them to take down the web page and all mentions of the venture. A second lawsuit from iyO filed this week in San Francisco Superior Court accuses a former iyO executive, Dan Sargent, of breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets over his meetings with another io co-founder, Tang Yew Tan, a close Ive ally who led design of the Apple Watch. Sargent left iyO in December and now works for Apple. He and Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 'This is not an action we take lightly,' said iyO CEO Jason Rugolo in a statement Thursday. 'Our primary goal here is not to target a former employee, whom we considered a friend, but to hold accountable those whom we believe preyed on him from a position of power.' Rugolo told The Associated Press last month that he thought he was on the right path in 2022 when he pitched his ideas and showed off his prototypes to firms tied to Altman and Ive. Rugolo later publicly expanded on his earbud-like 'audio computer" product in a TED Talk last year. What he didn't know was that soon after, Ive and Altman would begin quietly collaborating on their own AI hardware initiative and give it a similar name. 'I'm happy to compete on product, but calling it the same name, that part is just amazing to me. And it was shocking,' Rugolo said in an interview. The new venture was revealed publicly in a May video announcement, and to Rugolo about two months earlier after he had emailed Altman with an investment pitch. 'thanks but im working on something competitive so will (respectfully) pass!' Altman wrote to Rugolo in March, adding in parentheses that it was called io. Altman has dismissed iyO's lawsuit on social media as a 'silly, disappointing and wrong' move from a 'quite persistent' Rugolo. Other executives in court documents have characterized the product Rugolo was pitching them as a failed one that didn't work properly in a demo. Altman said in a written declaration that he and Ive chose the 'io' name two years ago in reference to the concept of 'input/output' that describes how a computer receives and transmits information. Neither io nor iyO was first to play with the phrasing — Google's big annual technology showcase is called I/O — but Altman said he and Ive acquired the domain name in August 2023. The idea was 'to create products that go beyond traditional products and interfaces,' Altman said. 'We want to create new ways for people to input their requests and new ways for them to receive helpful outputs, powered by AI.' A number of startups have already tried, and mostly failed, to build gadgetry for AI interactions. The startup Humane developed a wearable pin that you could talk to, but it was poorly reviewed and the startup discontinued sales after HP acquired its assets earlier this year. Altman has suggested that io's version could be different. He said in a now-removed video that he's already trying a prototype at home that Ive gave him, calling it 'the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.' What Altman and Ive still haven't said is what exactly it is. The court case, however, has forced their team to disclose what it's not. 'Its design is not yet finalized, but it is not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device,' said Tan in a court declaration that sought to distance the venture from iyO's product. It was that same declaration that led iyO to sue Sargent this week. Tan revealed in the filing that he had talked to a 'now former' iyO engineer who was looking for a job because of his frustration with 'iyO's slow pace, unscalable product plans, and continued acceptance of preorders without a sellable product.' Those conversations with the unnamed employee led Tan to conclude 'that iyO was basically offering 'vaporware' — advertising for a product that does not actually exist or function as advertised, and my instinct was to avoid meeting with iyO myself and to discourage others from doing so.' IyO said its investigators recently reached out to Sargent and confirmed he was the one who met with Tan. Rugolo told the AP he feels duped after he first pitched his idea to Altman in 2022 through the Apollo Projects, a venture capital firm started by Altman and his brothers. Rugolo said demonstrated his products and the firm politely declined, with the explanation that they don't do consumer hardware investments. That same year, Rugolo also pitched the same idea to Ive through LoveFrom, the San Francisco design firm started by Ive after he left Apple. Ive's firm also declined. 'I feel kind of stupid now,' Rugolo added. 'Because we talked for so long. I met with them so many times and demo'd all their people — at least seven people there. Met with them in person a bunch of times, talking about all our ideas.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
New York Post
11-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
AI device startup that sued OpenAI is now suing its own ex-employee
A secretive competition to pioneer a new way of communicating with artificial intelligence chatbots is getting a messy public airing as OpenAI fights a trademark dispute over its stealth hardware collaboration with legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive. In the latest twist, tech startup iyO Inc., which already sued Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for trademark infringement, is now suing one of its own former employees for allegedly leaking a confidential drawing of iyO's unreleased product. At the heart of this bitter legal wrangling is a big idea: we shouldn't need to stare at computer or phone screens or talk to a box like Amazon's Alexa to interact with our future AI assistants in a natural way. And whoever comes up with this new AI interface could profit immensely from it. 4 Tech startup iyO Inc., which already sued Jony Ive and Sam Altman (pictured), is also now suing one of its former employees for leaking an unreleased product. Getty Images OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, started to outline its own vision in May by buying io Products, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion. Soon after, iyO sued for trademark infringement for the similar sounding name and because of the firms' past interactions. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson ruled last month that iyO has a strong enough case to proceed to a hearing this fall. Until then, she ordered Altman, Ive and OpenAI to refrain from using the io brand, leading them to take down the web page and all mentions of the venture. A second lawsuit from iyO filed this week in San Francisco Superior Court accuses a former iyO executive, Dan Sargent, of breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets over his meetings with another io co-founder, Tang Yew Tan, a close Ive ally who led design of the Apple Watch. Sargent left iyO in December and now works for Apple. He and Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 'This is not an action we take lightly,' said iyO CEO Jason Rugolo in a statement Thursday. 'Our primary goal here is not to target a former employee, whom we considered a friend, but to hold accountable those whom we believe preyed on him from a position of power.' 4 Jason Rugolo, founder and CEO of iyO Inc., shows the motherboard of the iyO One audio computer. AP Rugolo told The Associated Press last month that he thought he was on the right path in 2022 when he pitched his ideas and showed off his prototypes to firms tied to Altman and Ive. Rugolo later publicly expanded on his earbud-like 'audio computer' product in a TED Talk last year. What he didn't know was that, by 2023, Ive and Altman had begun quietly collaborating on their own AI hardware initiative. 'I'm happy to compete on product, but calling it the same name, that part is just amazing to me. And it was shocking,' Rugolo said in an interview. The new venture was revealed publicly in a May video announcement, and to Rugolo about two months earlier after he had emailed Altman with an investment pitch. 'thanks but im working on something competitive so will (respectfully) pass!' Altman wrote to Rugolo in March, adding in parentheses that it was called io. 4 Jason Rugolo wearing the iyO One audio computer in his ears for demonstration AP Altman has dismissed iyO's lawsuit on social media as a 'silly, disappointing and wrong' move from a 'quite persistent' Rugolo. Other executives in court documents characterized the product Rugolo was pitching as a failed one that didn't work properly in a demo. Altman said in a written declaration that he and Ive chose the name two years ago in reference to the concept of 'input/output' that describes how a computer receives and transmits information. Neither io nor iyO was first to play with the phrasing — Google's flagship annual technology showcase is called I/O — but Altman said he and Ive acquired the domain name in August 2023. The idea was 'to create products that go beyond traditional products and interfaces,' Altman said. 'We want to create new ways for people to input their requests and new ways for them to receive helpful outputs, powered by AI.' A number of startups have already tried, and mostly failed, to build gadgetry for AI interactions. The startup Humane developed a wearable pin that you could talk to, but the product was poorly reviewed and the startup discontinued sales after HP acquired its assets earlier this year. Altman has suggested that io's version could be different. He said in a now-removed video that he's already trying a prototype at home that Ive gave him, calling it 'the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.' 4 iyO sued OpenAI for trademark infringement for the similar sounding name, 'io,' and because of the firms' past interactions. REUTERS Altman and Ive still haven't said is what exactly it is. The court case, however, has forced their team to disclose what it's not. 'Its design is not yet finalized, but it is not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device,' said Tan in a court declaration that sought to distance the venture from iyO's product. It was that same declaration that led iyO to sue Sargent this week. Tan revealed in the filing that he had talked to a 'now former' iyO engineer who was looking for a job because of his frustration with 'iyO's slow pace, unscalable product plans, and continued acceptance of preorders without a sellable product.' Those conversations with the unnamed employee led Tan to conclude 'that iyO was basically offering 'vaporware' — advertising for a product that does not actually exist or function as advertised, and my instinct was to avoid meeting with iyO myself and to discourage others from doing so.' IyO said its investigators recently reached out to Sargent and confirmed he was the one who met with Tan. Rugolo told the AP he feels duped after he first pitched his idea to Altman in 2022 through the Apollo Projects, a venture capital firm started by Altman and his brothers. Rugolo said he demonstrated his products and the firm politely declined, with the explanation that they don't do consumer hardware investments. That same year, Rugolo also pitched the same idea to Ive through LoveFrom, the San Francisco design firm started by Ive after his 27-year career at Apple. Ive's firm also declined. 'I feel kind of stupid now,' Rugolo added. 'Because we talked for so long. I met with them so many times and demo'd all their people — at least seven people there. Met with them in person a bunch of times, talking about all our ideas.'
India Today
26-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
Sam Altman calls io lawsuit against OpenAI silly, rival founder says he doesn't want to fight in public
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has taken to social media to push back against a trademark lawsuit filed by a rival hardware startup, Iyo, over the name of OpenAI's upcoming hardware lineup under the IO Product banner (in partnership with Jony Ive). In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Altman shared screenshots of email conversations between him and Iyo founder Jason emails date back to March, when Rugolo pitched Altman for a $10 million investment in his audio-hardware company, which he said had been "obsessively" working on AI-human interaction since 2018. Altman turned him down, saying he was "working on something competitive."jason rugolo had been hoping we would invest in or acquire his company iyo and was quite persistent in his efforts. we passed and were clear along the he is suing openai over the name. this is silly, disappointing and wrong. Sam Altman (@sama) June 24, 2025When Rugolo had asked if OpenAI might still consider collaborating, Altman replied that any decision would need to involve former Apple designer Jony Ive, who was leading the project. OpenAI has since acquired Ive's hardware company in a deal reportedly worth $6.5 The exchanges continued into May. After OpenAI unveiled its new device, also called io, Rugolo reached out again. "I'm getting blown up on the names situation," he wrote on May 23. "I wanted to level with you here, I'm feeling a little vulnerable and exposed, David and Goliath style. I just wanted to hear from you directly, are you serious and optimistic about potentially bringing us in?" To this, there was a reply from OpenAI VP of Product, Peter Welinder, which indicated that the company didn't see a partnership working out. "Their device is very orthogonal to ours and doesn't really work yet," he weeks later, OpenAI quietly removed all references to its io branding from its website. The change came after a judge granted a temporary restraining order in favour of Iyo, which had filed a trademark infringement lawsuit on June its filing, Iyo claims OpenAI had prior knowledge of its work — citing meetings with Altman's investment firm and Jony Ive's design company LoveFrom in 2022. It also alleges that proprietary information was shared during a recruiting attempt involving former Apple designer Evans Hankey, who went on to co-found OpenAI's hardware unit. Altman pushed back hard against the suit on X, saying Rugolo had been "quite persistent" in seeking investment or acquisition and that OpenAI had been "clear along the way" in saying no."This is silly, disappointing and wrong," he posted. "It is cool to try super hard to raise money or get acquired and to do whatever you can to make your company succeed. It is not cool to turn to a lawsuit when you don't get what you want."Despite his frustration, Altman added, "I wish Jason and his team the best building great products. The world certainly needs more of that and less lawsuits."Rugolo responded with restraint, saying he didn't want a public argument. "I won't fight you guys in public," he wrote. "Just think it's super bad form for someone like you to be coming after me like this. I'm looking forward to competing with you fairly on product; you just can't use our name." advertisementHe added that the lawsuit was "only about trademark" and pointed to the restraining order as evidence of its merit. "Read the judge's decision," he urged. "Restraining orders are rare and only given in the most exceptional cases of infringement."OpenAI confirmed it had pulled the io branding due to the legal order but maintains that its device is different – not an in-ear product or wearable like Iyo's. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Jony Ive dismissed the lawsuit as "utterly baseless" and said the company would "fight it vigorously."Last month, OpenAI acquired IO Products, a secretive hardware startup co-founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive – who is known for designing the iPhone, iMac and iPod. The deal marked OpenAI's first major move into hardware products after years of software-focused development. At the time, Altman told employees that the new device could eventually sell up to 100 million units and potentially add $1 trillion to OpenAI's valuation. In a now-deleted blog post, he and Ive said they formed a new company to build a "family of products" designed for interacting with was incorporated in Delaware in September 2023 and registered in California in April 2025. OpenAI already held a 23 percent stake before the $5 billion equity purchase. The hardware division is being led by Peter Welinder, with a team that includes experts from robotics, design, and manufacturing, all working alongside OpenAI's main research group in San Francisco.- Ends
CNBC
24-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Sam Altman calls Iyo lawsuit 'silly' after OpenAI scrubs Jony Ive deal from website
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday criticized a lawsuit filed by hardware startup Iyo, which accused his company of trademark infringement. Altman said, in response to the suit, that Iyo CEO Jason Rugolo had been "quite persistent in his efforts" to get OpenAI to buy or invest in his company. In a post on X, Altman wrote that Rugolo is now suing OpenAI over the name in a case he described as "silly, disappointing and wrong." The suit, earlier this month, stemmed from an announcement in May, when OpenAI said it was bringing on Apple designer Jony Ive by acquiring his artificial intelligence startup io in a deal valued at about $6.4 billion. Iyo alleged that OpenAI, Altman and Ive had engaged in unfair competition and trademark infringement and claimed that it's on the verge of losing its identity because of the deal. OpenAI removed the blog post about the deal from its website, after a judge last week granted Iyo's request for a temporary restraining order to keep OpenAI and its associates "from using Plaintiff's IYO mark, and any mark confusingly similar thereto, including without limitation 'IO.'" "This page is temporarily down due to a court order following a trademark complaint from iyO about our use of the name 'io,'" OpenAI says in a message that now appears at the link where the post had been. "We don't agree with the complaint and are reviewing our options." On X, Altman posted screenshots of emails from Rugolo seeking investment and a transaction involving Iyo's intellectual property. Rugolo also wanted OpenAI to buy Iyo, Altman wrote. Rugolo didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. But on X, he wrote that "there are 675 other two letter names they can choose that aren't ours." The Iyo suit is among several legal challenges facing OpenAI, which is working to evolve its organizational structure to take on more capital as it builds out its AI models. OpenAI also is going up against The New York Times in a copyright infringement case, and separately against Elon Musk, who had helped start OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015 and is now suing for breach of contract. Iyo is accepting pre-orders for its Iyo One in-ear wearable device that contains 16 microphones. Ive hasn't released details about io's product plans, but Altman told The Wall Street Journal that io's inaugural device is not a smartphone. Altman wrote in another Tuesday post that he wishes the Iyo team "the best building great products," and that "the world certainly needs more of that and less lawsuits."
Euronews
24-06-2025
- Business
- Euronews
OpenAI pauses Jony Ive partnership marketing in trademark dispute
A US federal judge asked OpenAI to stop marketing its upcoming partnership with an iPhone designer due to a trademark dispute. OpenAI last month announced it was buying io Products, a product and engineering company co-founded by Jony Ive, the former senior vice president of industrial design and chief design officer at Apple,** in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion (€5.6 billion). A competing firm called IYO that pitched an AI hardware to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's personal firm and Ive's design firm launched a trademark complaint against the deal. US District Judge Trina Thompson ruled late Friday that IYO, a Google-backed hardware start-up,** has a strong enough trademark infringement case to proceed to a hearing in October. Until then, she ordered Altman, Ive and OpenAI to refrain from 'using the IYO mark, and any mark confusingly similar thereto, including the IO mark in connection with the marketing or sale of related products.' 'IYO will not roll over' OpenAI responded by scrubbing its website of mentions of the new venture, saying instead that the page 'is temporarily down due to a court order. 'We don't agree with the complaint and are reviewing our options," the company added. IYO CEO Jason Rugolo applauded the ruling Monday in a written statement to the Associated Press that said the start-up will aggressively protect its brand and tech investments. 'IYO will not roll over and let [Altman] and [Ive] trample on our rights, no matter how rich and famous they are,' Rugolo said. Altman said in a June 12 court filing that he and Ive decided on the io name for their collaboration "because it is a common phrase for 'input/output'" and that their intent with the collaboration "was, and is, to create products that go beyond traditional products and interfaces". He added that they received the domain name in August 2023. 'Raising the issue of our name in bad faith' A file sent to the court from the OpenAI team alleges that Rugolo approached OpenAI several times for either funding, propositions to sell the company for $200 million or to ask for ways the companies could work together. After io was launched on May 21, the court filing says Rugolo contacted OpenAI's Tang Tan, io's chief hardware officer, congratulating them on the launch. When Tan said he did not want to pursue a partnership, Rugolo then raised an issue with the name for the first time. "I was surprised to receive this email," Tan wrote in a case declaration. "Mr. Rugolo had never mentioned any issues with the io name in any of our prior communications over the past several weeks. "It appeared to me that Mr. Rugolo was raising the issue of our name in bad faith to try to force us to do a deal with his company," he said. What are Altman and Ive building? In a filing to the court, Altman and Ive's lawyers say that their io project is not working on an in-ear or wearable AI device like IYO is. "io is at least a year away from offering any goods or services, and the first product it intends to offer is not an in-ear device like the one Plaintiff is offering for 'presale' (but which is also still at least months away from its claimed release date)," the filing says. Altman previously told OpenAI employees that the io prototype would be able to fit in a pocket or sit on a desk. The device would eventually be a third one that users could have in addition to their smartphone and laptop. The court filing from OpenAI also says io developed several prototypes, like objects that were "desktop-based and mobile, wireless and wired, wearable and portable". As part of this effort, io bought a "wide range" of earbuds, hearing aids and "at least 30" different headphone sets from companies, including IYO. The order for IYO's One earbuds asked for a downpayment of $69 and would be shipped in the winter of 2024, but was never fulfilled by the company, the case added.
