OpenAI's First Device Is a $300+ Smart Speaker — SkimNews
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- OpenAI's upcoming device, slated for 2027, is a hockey puck-sized smart speaker with moving parts designed to give it personality, likely costing $300+, per Bloomberg's Mark Gurman
- The device features a camera, speakers, microphones, and lights, described across outlets as doughnut or ring-shaped and comparable in size to an Alexa Dot
- The Verge identifies the gadget as Jony Ive's first OpenAI device, marking his return to consumer hardware design after leaving Apple
- Mark Gurman reports the device looks, feels, and acts nothing like an Apple product, and that OpenAI hasn't found evidence of any trade-secret violations
- TechCrunch, Engadget, The Information, and others converge on a $300-$400 price range, with iPhone in Canada noting a roughly $600 CAD equivalent
Why it matters: OpenAI is stepping from software into physical consumer hardware with a $300+ smart speaker aimed at 2027, marking Jony Ive's first product since leaving Apple. Gurman's note that the device looks nothing like an Apple product and that OpenAI found no trade-secret violations lands amid Apple's active injunction against two ex-employees now at OpenAI's io subsidiary.
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