OpenAI CEO Sam Altman commented on his company’s upcoming offering, saying “When people see it, they say, ‘that’s it?… It’s so simple.’” This product is a collaboration between Altman and Apple’s former chief designer Jony Ive. Not much is known yet about the product except that it’s rumored to be “screenless” and pocket-sized.
Earlier this year, OpenAI acquired Ive’s company io. This deal pushed OpenAI for the first time into the world of hardware. This weekend, Altman and Ive talked more about their vision for their AI device in an interview led by Laurene Powell Jobs at Emerson Collective’s 9th annual Demo Day in San Francisco.
While OpenAI did not share specifics, Ive and Altman described the products in terms of its “vibe.” Altman notably compared the device to the iPhone, which he said was the “crowning achievement of consumer products” thus far. He said he could define his life as those times before the iPhone and after. However, according to Altman, modern technologies are “filled with distractions.”
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“When I use current devices or most applications, I feel like I am walking through Times Square in New York and constantly just dealing with all the little indignities along the way — flashing lights in my face…people bumping into me, like noise is going off, and it’s an unsettling thing,” he said. “I don’t think it’s making any of our lives peaceful and calm and just letting us focus on our stuff,” Altman added.
Altman also said that the “vibe” of the upcoming device will be more like “sitting in the most beautiful cabin by a lake and in the mountains and sort of just enjoying the peace and calm.”
He also said the device should be able to filter things out for the user, as the user would trust the AI to do things for them over long periods of time. It should also be contextually aware of when it’s the best time to present information to the user and ask for input.
“You trust it over time, and it does have just this incredible contextual awareness of your whole life,” Altman added.
Ive also confirmed that the device should be available in under two years. “I love solutions that teeter on appearing almost naive in their simplicity,” Ive told Powell Jobs in the interview. “And I also love incredibly intelligent, sophisticated products that you want to touch, and you feel no intimidation, and you want to use almost carelessly — that you use them almost without thought — that they’re just tools,” he said.