At Emerson Collective’s Demo Day, Laurene Powell Jobs got Jony Ive and Sam Altman to open up a bit more about what they’re building together.
In the interview, the duo reveal that they have their first AI hardware prototypes and expect to start building the product in less than two years.
“Finally, we have the first prototypes,” says OpenAI boss Sam Altman. “I can’t believe how jaw-droppingly good the work is and how exciting it is. But also, now getting to the benefit of hindsight and looking at the progress — the process backwards — how much it’s all in there and how it wouldn’t have worked any other way. And then out of the end of it comes this extraordinary thing.”
News of the official collaboration between OpenAI and Jony Ive’s design team broke in May, although Ive first confirmed his work with OpenAI a year ago. Discussions were first reported two years ago.
Since then, the only thing we’ve learned is the team is developing a family of products without displays.
When pressed by Powell Jobs about when the device will be built, Ive says with confidence that the product will be ready in less than two years.
No news on what it will actually do or how it will look, however.
Altman does point out how the iPhone is like walking through Times Square, though, with all the distractions it produces. He later names the iPhone as the one product that he just loves and uses. He hopes the OpenAI hardware will restore some of the spirit lost to the iPhone.
Top comment by AppleDev
As good of an industrial designer as he is, I feel the only way Ive made good products at Apple was having someone around pushing him back towards reality. Ive and Altman both seem to live in a bubble on their own... Much of the AI market is also built around bubble-like financial schemes with circular agreements, waste, and fake depreciation numbers. These companies envision succeeding in moonshots to make up for the reckless spending that are unlikely to come from larger or more refined models. Companies like Apple and Google have been smart enough to stay vertically integrated and financially restrained in their AI efforts and will come out as winners, but I'm sure there will be large losses for so many companies once reality catches up to them...
Meanwhile, Ive points to ceramic as a material that he appreciates and wants to work with more in the future. Here’s to hoping the Apple Watch design team agrees and brings back the best-looking material someday.
As for one of his favorite inventions? The pocket. Apple, of course, recently expressed fondness for the pocket as well with the release of the very Jony Ive era-friendly iPhone Pocket.
Do more with your Apple products
AirPods 5 | Apple’s newest wireless headphones
Apple AirTag 2 | Add Find My tracking to keys, bags, bikes, more
AirPods Pro 3 | Apple’s best wireless headphones
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments