OpenAI Smart Speaker Slated for 2027 at $300+
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- OpenAI's new device, slated for 2027, is a hockey puck-sized smart speaker with moving parts meant to give it 'personality,' per Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
- The speaker will likely cost $300 or more, with TechCrunch and Engadget citing a $300–$400 range based on the same reporting.
- Outlets split on the form factor description: Bloomberg and others call it hockey puck-sized, while Fortune, Cult of Mac, and Notebookcheck characterize it as a doughnut/donut shape.
- Fortune's headline goes further — calling it a 'portable donut that watches you' — and AppleInsider notes the device is roughly the same size as an Amazon Echo Dot.
- Fast Company's coverage frames OpenAI as wanting to be the 'underdog against Apple,' explicitly positioning the device against Apple's HomePod line rather than Amazon's Echo.
- The story drew aggregator-wide pickup, with Techmeme linking ~30 outlets spanning TechCrunch, The Verge, Fortune, AppleInsider, Business Standard, 9to5Mac, and PYMNTS, plus subreddit threads on r/OpenAI, r/ChatGPT, and r/singularity.
Why it matters: OpenAI is moving from software into a $300+ consumer hardware category already owned by Amazon, Google, and Apple — and Fortune's 'watches you' framing implies built-in cameras, which materially raises the privacy stakes relative to a typical smart speaker. A 2027 target gives OpenAI roughly 18 months to ship against entrenched players, while Fast Company's Apple-underdog angle signals the device is being pitched as a premium HomePod rival rather than a budget Echo competitor.
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