Jony Ive and Sam Altman seek $1 billion for the "iPhone of AI"
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Policies You may unsubscribe at any time.
In September 2023, reports emerged of former Apple design guru Jony Ive joining forces with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to develop the “iPhone of AI.”
According to The Financial Times, the duo held brainstorming sessions at the designer’s San Francisco studio about a new consumer product centered on OpenAI’s technology.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son was reportedly involved in some of the discussions, “pitching a central role for ARM, as well as offering financial backing.” The Japanese multinational investment company holds a 90 percent stake in the chip manufacturer.
Featured Video RelatedAlthough these discussions were said to be serious, no deal was agreed. However, according to the latest sources, this AI-powered hardware device will not look like a smartphone.
A novel interface
As per The Information, Sam Altman is exploring a screenless device. This approach is the same taken by another of Altman’s recent investments, the Humane AI pin.
Altman and Ive are currently in advanced discussions with various venture capital firms, including Thrive Capital and Emerson Collective, to secure around $1 billion in funding for their yet-to-be-named startup. The device is expected to be powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Ive, best known for his efforts towards designing the iPhone, and user interface for iOS, left Apple in 2019 to start his creative firm, LoveForm. However, he continued to work with Apple as a consultant via his venture until 2022.
According to Bloomberg, Ive has enlisted the services of Tang Tan to lead the project’s hardware engineering. Tan was formerly Apple’s Vice President of iPhone and watch product design.
A new dawn of AI devices
In 2018, Ive told FT that Apple had a “moral responsibility” to mitigate unintended consequences such as addictive apps. While smartphones are excellent at doing everything, this ability can also be a hindrance.
Recent AI devices such as the Humane’s AI pin, and the Rabbit r1 claim to remove the distracting aspect of smartphones and get work done efficiently. While this idea seems good on paper, it raises a few other concerns.
For instance, booking a vacation for you and the family— as the r1 demonstrated during its unveiling— would it still do as through a check as you would, combing through hotel and ticket options tailored to your needs and budget? Would the device know your preferred method of payment? If it did know all that, is your data stored securely?
While standalone AI devices have certainly caught the attention of many, it remains to be seen if they live up to their hype. Last week, Rabbit notified users that the first batch of r1 devices was ready to be shipped.
Humane’s co-founder and chairman Imran Chaudhri tweeted that the first batch of AI pins “started to leave the factory.”
相关文章
A global problem is preventing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza from coming to an end.
Why do the wars in Ukraine and Gaza grind on, ferociously, relentlessly, with no end in sight and th2024-09-22- This photo provided by Cisco Systems on June 1, 2018, shows the captured image of an attached file c2024-09-22
Apple AirPods killed the intimacy of headphone sharing
AirPods have ruined the headphone-sharing game, and I for one refuse to stay silent while decades of2024-09-22- 收获满满!广东茶“组团”北上香溢新疆_南方+_南方plus“这里客流量非常大,根本忙不过来!”潮州凤凰单丛茶博物馆总经理马冰高兴地表示。日前,“疆品南下 粤品北上”广东老字号)产品走进新疆专场活动暨“2024-09-22
Upgrade Your Monitor, Not Your GPU
Stop! If you're thinking of upgrading your gaming PC setup, don't buy that overpriced graphics card2024-09-22- Russian President Vladimir Putin invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to travel to Russia in Sept2024-09-22
最新评论