Sir Jony Ive, the man behind Apple’s most successful products is set to create a new generation of artificial intelligence-based computers for OpenAI.
OpenAI has acquired his startup, io, in a £4.7bn deal, which has been in the works for the last 2 years, when Ive and his creative collective LoveFrom, “quietly” started working with Sam Altman and the team at OpenAI.
“It became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company,” stated Ive and Altman.
“And so, one year ago, Jony founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. We gathered together the best hardware and software engineers, the best technologists, physicists, scientists, researchers and experts in product development and manufacturing. Many of us have worked closely for decades.
“The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco.
“As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io.”
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Ive, described by Altman as the greatest designer in the world, studied art and design at Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University) before co-founding London consultancy, Tangerine – which counted Apple as its biggest client.
He joined the tech giant in 1992 full-time and in the late 90s was behind some of its most famous designs, starting with the iMac and later leading on the iPod and iPhone.
In 2017 he left Apple and co-founded LoveFrom with Marc Newson.
“I think we have the opportunity here to complete reimagine what it means to use a computer,” explained Altman.
“I would get on my laptop, I’d open it up, I’d launch a web browser, I’d start typing, and I’d have to, like, explain that thing. And I would hit enter, and I would wait, and I would get a response. And that is at the limit of what the current tool of a laptop can do.
“But I think this technology deserves something much better.”
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Ive added:
“In my experience, if you’re trying to have a sense of where you are going to end up, you shouldn’t look at the technology.
“You should look at the people who are making the decisions, and you should look at what drives, motivates, and look at values.”
