Jony Ive: OpenAI plans elegantly simple device

9 hours ago7 min read4 comments

In a conversation that felt more like a glimpse into a creative workshop than a corporate announcement, legendary designer Jony Ive, the visionary behind Apple's most iconic products, sat down with his longtime friend Laurene Powell Jobs at the Emerson Collective's Demo Day in San Francisco and painted a tantalizing picture of the future. He revealed that his highly secretive collaboration with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a partnership first announced last May, has already progressed to the functional prototype stage, with a public unveiling expected in less than two years.This isn't just another gadget entering the crowded tech arena; this is a philosophical statement, a deliberate attempt to redefine our relationship with intelligence itself. Ive, whose design philosophy has always centered on a profound, almost spiritual simplicity, described his goal with characteristic elegance.'I love solutions that teeter on appearing almost naive in their simplicity,' he mused, a principle that guided every curve of the iPod and the unibody construction of the MacBook. He spoke of creating 'incredibly intelligent, sophisticated products that you want to touch — and you feel no intimidation, and you want to use almost carelessly.' This is the core of his vision for AI: not a complex terminal of blinking lights, but a tool so intuitive it becomes an extension of human thought, used without conscious effort, much like a master carpenter wields a chisel. The collaboration between Ive's design firm, LoveFrom, and Altman's AI powerhouse is a meeting of two distinct yet complementary worlds.Altman, the pragmatic technologist initially focused on raw capability and efficiency, admitted to a moment of creative friction. When Ive insisted that the device must 'make people smile' and 'feel joy,' Altman's initial internal reaction was one of skepticism—'Yeah, yeah.Whatever, Jony. People just want to be efficient.' Yet, he conceded this was a 'weakness' in his own thinking, and he now sees the profound value Ive brought to the table. The result, Altman now effuses, is a design that is 'so simple and beautiful and playful, for lack of a better word,' acknowledging that a sense of 'whimsy' is conspicuously absent from most contemporary technology.The most vivid and strangely human metric for their success came from Ive himself, who once told Altman they would know the design was perfect when a user felt the impulse to 'lick it or take a bite out of it. ' This synesthetic ideal—where a device is so desirable it triggers a primal, almost childlike response—goes far beyond mere aesthetics.It speaks to a deep understanding of user experience that is tactile, emotional, and deeply human. Altman recalled the pivotal moment when an earlier, exciting prototype failed this crucial test, lacking that visceral allure, before they 'finally got there all of a sudden.' This journey from functional to irresistible is the very essence of Ive's legacy. Behind the scenes, the project involved a radical process of reduction.Altman elaborated on Ive's 'simplicity mindset,' noting how the immense capability of AI allows for the stripping away of non-essentials. 'So much can fall away,' Altman said, marveling at how Ive 'chipped away at every little thing that this doesn't need to do or doesn't need to be in there.' This paring down is happening while the team grapples with the profound implications of a device that 'is going to be able to know everything you've ever thought about, read, said. ' The challenge, then, is to house this omnipotent, almost omniscient intelligence within a physical form that feels not like a supercomputer, but like a familiar, friendly object.The stakes for this project are immeasurably high. While other companies race to pack AI into existing form factors like phones and laptops, Ive and Altman are attempting to create an entirely new category—the first true AI-native device.Its success or failure could determine the primary portal through which billions of people eventually interact with artificial intelligence. Will it be as transformative as the graphical user interface or the touchscreen? Ive's track record suggests it might.His work at Apple didn't just create products; it created new behaviors, new cultures, and new economies. If he and Altman succeed, their elegantly simple device won't just be another piece of hardware; it will be the physical embodiment of a new era, a tool that makes the vast, abstract power of AI feel as natural and joyful as a smile.

#Jony Ive

#OpenAI

#AI device

#hardware

#prototypes

#design

#featured

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