OpenAI bought smartphone camera maker Glass Imaging for $300 million, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The company, founded in 2019 and based in Los Altos, California, had previously raised about $30 million in funding from investors.
Glass Imaging was founded by former Apple engineers Ziv Attar and Tom Bishop. According to TechCrunch, the duo previously led the team that developed Apple’s Portrait Mode. Their experience at Apple influenced their work at Glass Imaging, where they used AI to overcome the physical size constraints of smartphone cameras.
READ: OpenAI targets junior bankers with new ChatGPT tool (September 10, 2026)
Rather than using AI to edit a photo after it is taken, Glass Imaging uses neural networks to learn about individual camera systems and create better images from the moment the shutter clicks.
According to Quartz, Glass Imaging’s goal is to produce image quality comparable to that of a DSLR camera from a smartphone. Its zoom-imaging technology has been featured in a line of phones from Chinese smartphone brand Honor.
OpenAI’s plans for Glass Imaging are not clear. According to TechCrunch, OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment. However, the company has been reported to be working on its own hardware, including smartphones, earbuds and AI companion devices.
OpenAI is also developing a device with Jony Ive, the former Apple designer behind the iPhone. OpenAI brought Ive on in 2025 through its $6.5 billion acquisition of io Products. His responsibilities include hardware development as well as broader efforts to define how AI products will look and function.
OpenAI has also recently made several other acquisitions, including internet talk show TBPN and an open-source developer tools startup, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company is also preparing for an initial public offering that is expected next year.
READ: OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra, calls it a potential step toward AGI (September 4, 2026)
The ChatGPT maker recently launched GPT-6 Astra, its latest and most capable artificial intelligence model. The company’s president, Greg Brockman, said the system could eventually be viewed as the beginning of the artificial general intelligence (AGI) era and described it as a “generational leap.”
However, CEO Sam Altman has also recently voiced concerns about the risks of AI development, joining his competitor, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Altman warned that humanity could eventually lose control of the technology if adequate safety measures are not in place.
Altman’s comments came shortly after Amodei published a lengthy essay raising similar concerns, sparking broader debate over the pace and risks of AI development.