OpenAI's First Devices: AI Speaker, Smartphone, and More

AI Smart Speaker: OpenAI's First Product

OpenAI's first hardware device is a portable, screenless smart speaker developed with former Apple design chief Jony Ive. Designed as a personal companion rather than a conventional voice assistant, this AI smart speaker will leverage ChatGPT and GPT-Live for natural conversations.

Design

The device features a rechargeable battery for room-to-room portability, a camera for understanding its surroundings, and mechanical elements that move autonomously to create a lifelike presence. Ive and CEO Sam Altman deliberately avoided a screen, with Altman describing a prototype to employees as "the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen."

Features

Powered by ChatGPT and GPT-Live, the speaker will control smart home accessories, answer questions, play media, and respond to messages. It becomes more personalized and proactive over time, with its own unique personality. OpenAI reportedly does not view the HomePod or HomePod mini as comparable products.

Price and Release Date

The AI smart speaker is expected in early 2027 at a price between $200 and $300, having slipped beyond an initial release target of this year.

AI Smartphone: A Context-Aware Agent Phone

Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first described the device in April as an "AI agent phone" built around a continuous, context-aware interface rather than individual apps. Kuo argues that smartphones are the only devices capturing a user's full real-time state—location, activity, communication, and context—making it essential for OpenAI to control both the operating system and hardware.

Specifications

The OpenAI smartphone will use a customized MediaTek Dimensity 9600 processor built on TSMC's N2P node (also used for Apple's upcoming A20 chips). MediaTek is now the likely sole chip supplier. Luxshare Precision Industry is the exclusive manufacturing partner, and Sunny Optical has secured component orders for camera modules. Its headline feature is an image signal processor with an enhanced HDR pipeline for improved real-world sensing, plus two AI processors for simultaneous vision and language tasks.

Key Specifications

• Custom MediaTek Dimensity 9600 processor (N2P node)
• Enhanced HDR image signal processor
• Dual AI processors for vision and language
• Exclusive manufacturing by Luxshare Precision Industry

Timeline

Mass production originally targeted 2028, but Kuo revised it to the first half of 2027, reflecting OpenAI's planned IPO and intensifying competition. Combined 2027 and 2028 shipments could reach around 30 million units if development stays on track.

Other OpenAI Devices in Development

Beyond the speaker and smartphone, OpenAI is reportedly developing smart glasses, a smart lamp, and potentially earbuds. These sit further out on the roadmap and some could be cancelled. The lineup stems from OpenAI's $6.5 billion acquisition of Ive's startup io Products, along with an aggressive recruitment campaign that brought over 400 former Apple employees—including designers Evans Hankey, Tang Tan, Scott Cannon, and Vision Products Group leader Paul Meade. Apple responded with retention bonuses of up to $400,000 in restricted stock units for its iPhone Product Design team.

Apple's Lawsuit and Its Impact

Apple sued OpenAI on July 10 over alleged theft of trade secrets. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman argues the case is already slowing the hardware effort by deterring Apple engineers from interviewing and making suppliers wary. OpenAI says it has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets."

What Does It Mean for Apple?

Apple is separately rumored to be developing smart glasses, AirPods with cameras, an AI pendant, and a smart home hub with enhanced Siri capabilities. This puts the two companies on a collision course across several categories, intensifying the competition in AI hardware.