OpenAI has partnered with China-based Apple device assembler Luxshare to develop a consumer device, according to The Information, citing sources familiar with the matter. The pocket-sized prototype, still in development, is designed to integrate closely with OpenAI’s AI models, including ChatGPT, and features context-aware capabilities.
Reuters:
Such a gadget could eat into the markets of Apple and other consumer electronics makers by offering an alternative to users for interacting with AI, challenging the dominance of smartphones and traditional hardware.
MacDailyNews Take: Could, but very likely won’t. (See the Humane AI Pin, for example.)
OpenAI bought hardware startup io Products, founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, earlier this year in a $6.5 billion deal, underscoring its push to move beyond software into consumer hardware.
Luxshare, a major assembler of Apple’s iPhones and AirPods, would bring large-scale manufacturing capabilities to OpenAI’s effort.
OpenAI has also approached China-based Goertek, a supplier that assembles AirPods, HomePods and Apple Watches, to provide components, including speaker modules, for its planned devices, the Information report said.
The project marks one of the boldest bets yet by an AI company to build a dedicated device rather than relying solely on smartphones and PCs. The goal is to create an “AI-native” product, hardware designed from the ground up to work with AI models, rather than bolted onto existing platforms.
MacDailyNews Take: One more thing to carry/wear that can do something already being done via iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods (and their Android-based knockoffs) will be a tough sell.
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