Jony Ive, the legendary designer who left his full-time position at Apple 5 years in the past, is engaged on a brand new startup with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman.
The collaboration was first reported final yr, and Ive confirmed it in a New York Instances profile about what he’s been as much as since leaving Apple.
If the startup has a reputation, Ive isn’t sharing it, however it apparently emerged from dinners with Altman final yr the place the pair mentioned the potential of generative AI. With Ive’s agency LoveFrom main the design, the profile describes the aim as constructing “a product that makes use of A.I. to create a computing expertise that’s much less socially disruptive than the iPhone.”
So maybe Ive and Altman can succeed the place different AI machine corporations like Humane have struggled.
Industrial designer Marc Newson, who’s working with Ive, mentioned the product specifics and launch timing haven’t been determined. Regardless of that vagueness, the startup is fundraising, with Laurene Powell-Jobs’ Emerson Collective and Ive himself contributing. It feels like the corporate is aiming to lift as much as $1 billion by the tip of the yr.