Latest news with #ioProducts
Hans India
10-07-2025
- Business
- Hans India
OpenAI Finalises Acquisition of Jony Ive's io to Develop AI Hardware
OpenAI has completed its much-anticipated acquisition of io Products Inc., the hardware startup co-founded by the legendary former Apple designer Jony Ive. Valued at nearly $6.5 billion, the deal marks OpenAI's significant push to integrate its ChatGPT AI technology with dedicated hardware devices. The news was confirmed in an updated blog post on Wednesday after OpenAI had to temporarily remove its original announcement due to a trademark dispute with Iyo, a hearing device company spun out of Google's moonshot factory. The announcement now clarifies: 'We're thrilled to share that the io Products, Inc. team has officially merged with OpenAI. Jony Ive and LoveFrom remain independent and have assumed deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI.' Although the company initially promoted the acquisition with a video featuring OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive, the clip remains offline due to the ongoing legal issue. OpenAI says the newly integrated io team will work closely with its research, engineering, and product divisions in San Francisco to develop AI-powered products designed to 'inspire, empower and enable.' The io Products, Inc. deal has officially closed and we're thrilled to welcome the team to Ive & LoveFrom remain independent. They'll have deep design & creative responsibilities across — OpenAI (@OpenAI) July 9, 2025 By merging io's hardware expertise with its advanced AI, OpenAI aims to push the boundaries of how people interact with AI in everyday devices—while leaning on Jony Ive's iconic design vision to shape this next chapter.
The Verge
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Verge
OpenAI closes its deal to buy Jony Ive's io and build AI hardware
OpenAI has officially closed its nearly $6.5 billion acquisition of io, the hardware startup co-founded by famed former Apple designer Jony Ive, the company announced Wednesday. But it was careful to only refer to the startup as io Products Inc. The blog post initially announcing the acquisition was also scrubbed from OpenAI's website due to a trademark lawsuit from Iyo, the hearing device startup spun out of Google's moonshot factory. Now it's back up, with a new note: 'We're thrilled to share that the io Products, Inc. team has officially merged with OpenAI. Jony Ive and LoveFrom remain independent and have assumed deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI.' OpenAI originally announced the deal and plans to create dedicated AI hardware, with a video on social media featuring its CEO, Sam Altman, and Ive. That video has been scrubbed from its website and social media channels due to the lawsuit and has not returned. 'The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco,' the blog post states.
The Verge
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Verge
OpenAI closes deal with Jony Ive's io.
Posted Jul 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM UTC OpenAI closes deal with Jony Ive's io. OpenAI has officially closed its nearly $6.5 billion acquisition of io, the hardware startup co-founded by famous Apple designer Jony Ive, the company announced Wednesday. But it was careful to only refer to the startup as io Products Inc. OpenAI originally announced the deal, and its plans to create dedicated AI hardware, with a viral video featuring its CEO Sam Altman and Ive. The video has since been scrubbed from its website and social media channels due to a trademark lawsuit from Iyo, the hearing device startup spun out of Google's moonshot factory. The blog post initially announcing the acquisition was also scrubbed from OpenAI's website due to the lawsuit, but it's now back up. 'The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco,' the blog post states.
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.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Silicon Valley's 'scale at all costs' model: A profile of OpenAI
OpenAI is back to making waves in the artificial intelligence realm this week after it agreed to buy io Products — a startup founded by former Apple (AAPL) designer Jony Ive — for $6.5 billion. Investigative reporter Karen Hao comes on Asking for a Trend to speak with Josh Lipton about her profile of OpenAI and its founder-CEO Sam Altman, the company's push to scale its large language model, and the type of "environmental, social, and labor harms" that the AI race could promote. Hao is the author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Asking for a Trend here.
