Jony Ive-OpenAI Smart Speaker: $300, 2027 Launch
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- OpenAI is co-developing an AI device with former Apple designer Jony Ive that Bloomberg's Mark Gurman describes as a battery-powered, doughnut-shaped smart speaker roughly the size of a hockey puck with no display.
- Gurman's sources say the device will launch in 2027 at a price over $300 and is designed to be carried one-handed around the home, similar to Amazon's now-discontinued Tap speaker.
- The device features moving parts that shift autonomously to signal responses or interactions, along with lights, a camera system, and other sensors.
- The speaker is designed to work similarly to ChatGPT's smartphone voice mode but with more advanced models for humanlike interactivity, and is explicitly intended not to look or feel like an Apple product.
- OpenAI frames the hockey puck as the first in a broader "family of devices," with Gurman noting more announcements are expected before the 2027 launch.
Why it matters: At over $300, OpenAI is pricing its first consumer device above mass-market smart speakers, betting that Jony Ive's design pedigree and ChatGPT's voice capabilities justify a premium. The device is also explicitly designed not to resemble an Apple product, a notable signal given OpenAI's ongoing lawsuit with Apple tied to Ive.
