Jony Ive spent decades shaping Apple’s sleek, unmistakable aesthetic, crafting iconic products like the iPhone and iMac that defined a generation of consumer technology. Now, he’s helping lead the next technological leap—teaming up with OpenAI to design a consumer-facing A.I. device. The project has already earned the backing of Laurene Powell Jobs.
“Just watching something brand new be manifested, it’s a wondrous thing to behold,” said Powell Jobs of Ive’s recent work in a joint Financial Times interview. A longtime supporter of Ive’s work, she has remained in touch since his Apple days and is also an investor in his design firm, LoveFrom. That company’s spinout, io, was recently acquired by OpenAI in a $6.4 billion deal to fuse their efforts into a new category of A.I.-driven consumer products.
Powell Jobs has already had an early look at what they’re building. “I’ve watched in real time how ideas go from a thought to some words, to some drawings, to some stories, and then to prototypes, and then a different type of prototype,” she said. “And then something that you think: I can’t imagine that getting any better—only to see the next version, which is even better.”
Following its acquisition of io and its 55-person team, Sam Altman’s OpenAI is planning to launch a groundbreaking A.I. device sometime next year. Ive, who will remain independent from the company but lead its creative and design direction, began conversations with Altman about A.I. hardware back in 2023. He went on to found io later that year to explore those ideas. While the full terms of OpenAI’s acquisition remain undisclosed, the deal is expected to make Ive a billionaire and grant Powell Jobs a significant stake in OpenAI.
A longstanding relationship
Ive and Powell Jobs have remained close since Steve Jobs’s death in 2011. In addition to investing in io, Powell Jobs has also backed LoveFrom through her investment platform, Emerson Collective. “LoveFrom wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Laurene,” Ive told the Financial Times. “It feels to me like we grew up together.”
Despite her deep involvement with Ive’s OpenAI venture, Powell Jobs has not distanced herself from Apple, which is now racing alongside OpenAI and other major players to lead the A.I. race. “I’m still very close to the leadership team at Apple,” said Powell Jobs, whose estimated $14.2 billion net worth is largely tied to her holdings in Apple and The Walt Disney Company. “They’re really good people, and I want them to succeed also.”
Exactly what OpenAI is building remains tightly under wraps, though both Ive and Altman have insisted the device will not be another smartphone. Ive is aiming to design a product that counters the often unhealthy relationships people now have with their devices—a dynamic he acknowledges helping to create. “While some of the less positive consequences were unintentional, I still feel responsibility,” he said.
The tech industry today has become unrecognizable from the early 1990s, when, according to Ive, innovation was driven by a sense of “service to humanity.” He added, “I don’t feel that way about this place right now.” Powell Jobs echoed his concerns, pointing to the mental health crisis and the harmful effects of technology on young people.
Through their partnership with OpenAI, both hope to restore a more optimistic and humane vision for technology. “Many of us would say we have an uneasy relationship with technology at the moment,” said Ive. “Humanity deserves better.”
