Jony Ive, Sam Altman and SoftBank plan to make “the iPhone of Artificial Intelligence”

Earlier this week, rumors started circulating with the prospect of a collaboration between former Apple designer Jony Ive and OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman on an AI-powered device. A new report published by The Financial Times is now confirming the collaboration and also sheds some light on what to expect from the device.

According to The Financial Times, Ive and Altman are already in advanced talks with SoftBank in regards to a US$1 billion venture to produce “the iPhone of Artificial Intelligence.” As mentioned in the report, “they hope to create a more natural and intuitive user experience for interacting with AI, in the way that the iPhone's innovations in touchscreen computing unleashed the mass-market potential of the mobile internet.”

SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son would fund and help create the new company that specializes in AI-centered devices. Moreover, since SoftBank owns Arm, the processors powering the AI devices would naturally use Arm’s hardware.

Ive and Altman are apparently looking at many different ideas that could streamline AI interactions for the general consumer. Regardless of the final form of the device, Ive is said to be exploring solutions that do not focus primarily on screen interactions.

Even though the involved parties have engaged in “serious” talks, official announcements might not come before the end of this year, and an actual commercial version of the AI device may still take at least a few years to hit the market.

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