The Jony Ive–OpenAI Project Has Reached the Prototype Stage of an AI Device

Jony Ive told Laurene Powell Jobs during an on-stage interview that his secret project has already reached the prototype stage—a physical AI-based device—and that he expects to unveil it within two years.

OpenAI chief Sam Altman, speaking in the same interview at an Emerson Collective event, said Ive’s design is marked by elegant simplicity and a touch of playfulness—traits instantly recognizable from his Apple years. The reason for the fascination is clear: curiosity around the project is immense, as Ive’s device may become the gateway through which a mass audience begins to interact with AI in a truly natural way. Powell Jobs—the founder and president of Emerson Collective, an organization supporting entrepreneurs and innovators—spoke with Ive and Altman, whom she described as “two thinkers of their generation,” during the ninth annual Demo Day held in San Francisco last Thursday. A recording of the conversation was published on Monday, November 24.

Asked about the timeline for OpenAI-related devices, Ive said he believes it will take “even less” than two years. When the deal was announced in May, OpenAI had said that the first products were expected in 2026. Ive added: “I like solutions that tread the line of almost naive simplicity. And I love extraordinarily smart, refined objects that invite touch—that aren’t intimidating, that you want to use without thinking, almost casually, like an ordinary tool.”

Altman added: “I hope that when people see the device, they’ll say: ‘That’s it!’” Ive replied with confidence: “Yes, they will.”

Commenting on Ive’s pursuit of radical simplicity, Altman noted that AI can assume so much of the cognitive load that a device can dispense with many familiar elements: “And the degree to which Jony stripped away every single thing this device doesn’t need is astonishing.” He said they had discussed the idea of a device that would “know everything you’ve ever thought, read, or said.” According to him, “we finally have our first prototypes.”

Altman recalled that Ive once said they would know they had found the right design when a user would feel the urge to “lick the device or take a bite out of it.” “There was an earlier prototype we were satisfied with, but I never felt that sensation of ‘I want to grab this and bite it.’ And then suddenly, it arrived.”

According to Altman, the design turned out “as simple, beautiful, and playful as it could possibly be.” Speaking at Demo Day, he recalled that Ive had insisted from the outset: “We want people to smile. We want people to feel joy. Whatever the device does, it should evoke those feelings.”

Altman admitted: “At the time I thought, ‘Sure, Jony, people need efficiency, and that’s enough.’ That is my obvious blind spot. But I’m so glad Jony kept insisting. And only now, as the project is coming together, do I realize how thoroughly playfulness has vanished from today’s technology—and how refreshing it is to bring a bit of lightness back.”