Former Apple design lead Jony Ive and current Open AI CEO Sam Altman are sourcing funding for a new “artificial intelligence-powered personal device”.
Sources speaking to The Information state that the duo are working together on the new device. Exact details are not yet known but it reportedly won’t look anything like a smartphone.
Plans for this new venture have been underway since the fall of 2023 but now funding is being sought to bring it to reality. Already, the lofty circles that Ive and Altman come from within the tech world are gathering attention from some of the biggest names in technology investment.
Ive and Altman seek billion-dollar investment for personal device
According to these sources, Ive and Altman are aiming to raise at least $1 billion for the new company, which is not yet named. A few of the investors currently in talks include previous OpenAI investor Thrive Capital, SoftBank CEO and super-investor Masayoshi Son, and venture capital firm Emerson Collective.
With Altman and Ive both coming from tech giant backgrounds, they already have the personal connections to at least start talks with some of these giant names from the industry. This could bring that lofty goal of $1 billion initial investment considerably closer.
What’s more, their backgrounds directly feed into the little we know about the device. Coming from Apple, Ive has experience in personal devices. Indeed, Apple itself is rumored to be incorporating AI more directly into the software of future smartphones.
For Altman, AI has been his bread and butter for a while now, not just through OpenAI as the founder of ChatGPT, but also through various other AI ventures that the CEO has been investing in and aiding. As it stands, there is no sign that either Apple or OpenAI would get directly involved with the new personal device company.
Featured image: Flickr licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DEED
