As confusion reigns over Jony Ive’s iO device, I remain an AI hardware skeptic

AI hardware has been in the news this week, with the Apple pin report getting most of the headlines. But there was also a new claim about OpenAI’s upcoming AI hardware device under iO branding.

It’s more than eight months since former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman teased it, and we’re still no closer to knowing its form factor. The latest report doesn’t exactly help, appearing to contradict what the pair have already said …

Jony Ive’s iO device

In May of last year, Ive and Altman released what I described at the time as a strong candidate for most frustrating video of the year. The pair promised a completely new concept in AI hardware, but gave very little clue as to what that might be.

“Jony recently gave me one of the prototypes of the device for the first time to take home, and I’ve been able to live with it—and I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.”

Mostly, all I was able to piece together from the various clues was what it is (probably) not.

The only form factor that has so far made any sense to me is smart glasses, but Altman has specifically said that io is not a pair of glasses, while both have also made it clear that it’s not a phone. The pair strongly imply it’s a form factor we haven’t yet seen, which would seem to rule out a badge, a smartwatch, a smart ring, or in-ear headphones.

It was also made clear that it either doesn’t have a screen or at least that the screen is not the main way we interact with it. It was a 9to5Mac reader who suggested that it might be a pen, and that theory did strike me as having a lot going for it.

AirPods confusion

Things got a little more confusing this week when a Weibo blogger suggested that it would comprise “two pill-shaped gadgets that rest behind the ear,” and that it was intended to be used instead of AirPods.

Hearing fresh detail on Openai “To-go” hardware project from last report. Now confirmed it is a special audio product to replace Airpod […] There are two pills that are removed and rest behind the ear.

This was picked up by a number of sites, despite the fact that it clearly appears to contradict the little that OpenAI has said about it.

I remain cautiously skeptical

It’s been two years since two separate companies made high-profile attempts to launch AI hardware devices, the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1. Predictably, both were abject failures.

I said at the time that trying to sell AI hardware today is like inventing the iPod after the iPhone.

Much as I still love the iPod concept, to me it no longer makes sense to carry a dedicated chunk of hardware just to play all the music I own, when I can instead use the device which is already in my pocket to play (almost) all the music in the world, whether or not I own it.

It’s the same thing with AI hardware today. If smartphones didn’t exist, these devices would be enormously exciting, and I’d want one, despite their current limitations. But smartphones do exist, and I can’t see a single reason why these devices aren’t simply apps.

I’ve acknowledged that it would be brave to bet against Ive and Altman given their respective track records. If anyone could pull off something so seemingly unlikely, it would be that combination of hardware and software expertise.

But as cautious as I try to be in dismissing the idea, I still really struggle to see a role for such a device. A pen does strike me as the least-worst form factor, since a lot of people carry one anyway, and for the rest of us it would be a pretty painless thing to slip into a pocket. But that still leaves the question of why would we add a piece of hardware when everyone already has a smartphone on them?

It also doesn’t address the enormous privacy issues I discussed in yesterday’s piece about the alleged Apple pin. Sure, OpenAI cares much less about this than Apple does, but it’s still a huge barrier to adoption.

So I’m still not seeing it

It seems to me the entire selling point of such devices is that they are always on, with all of the privacy issues involved. If they are not always on, and we have to manually activate them, then that again raises the question of why we don’t just use our smartphone.

I mean, I’m sure it will be beautiful, perhaps even sufficiently so that I will lust after it. Heck, I feel that way about the stock photo of the fountain pen at the top of this piece and about technology like the reMarkable Paper Pro, despite the fact that I haven’t handwritten anything more than my signature for a good decade or two.

But whatever aesthetic appeal the device may have for me, I will be very surprised indeed if I end up buying one – and no less surprised if a significant number of other people do. What say you?

• Official Apple Store on Amazon
• Wireless CarPlay adapter
• NordVPN – privacy-first VPN with no logs and independent audits to verify
• Official Apple iPhone Air cases and bumpers
• iPhone Air MagSafe Battery
• Official iPhone cases: iPhone 17 | iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max | iPhone Air

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.