Jony Ive’s First OpenAI Device Will Be A Smart Speaker With Camera, 2027 Launch Planned

OpenAI is working on many AI hardware devices in collaboration with former Apple designer Jony Ive, and the first product to come out could be a smart speaker. The company is developing a smart speaker, a smart lamp, and is considering AI glasses, according to the report Informationand the speaker will come out in early 2027.

The OpenAI smart speaker has an integrated camera and is designed to learn information about who is using it and what is around them. It will include a facial recognition feature similar to Face ID, and users will be able to use the speaker to make purchases. The speaker will have AI integration, so users can ask it questions and make requests.

In an internal presentation, OpenAI employees were told that the speaker would look at users and suggest actions to help them reach goals, such as suggesting a bedtime before a morning meeting.

Apple is working on a similar home hub device that is slated to come out this year. The home hub will feature an integrated camera and speaker for video calls and control of smart home products, and will have deep integration with an updated version of Siri being developed by Apple.

OpenAI plans to price the speaker between $200 and $300, with a launch scheduled for February 2027 at the earliest. OpenAI is testing a smart light bulb and smart glasses, but those products won’t be ready until 2028 or later. Other than the speaker, OpenAI hardware development is in the early stages and some products may be canceled.

Jony Ive has been working with OpenAI since OpenAI acquired Ive’s hardware company in May 2025. Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared some details about their AI hardware work, suggesting that a prototype be established in November 2025. At the time, Ive and Altman said the device would be “quiet” and “non-active”. The duo also described the device as a product that “will make people feel happy.”

More rumors about OpenAI’s plans came following a staff meeting, where Ive and Altman said they didn’t want a device with a screen. A device, which is probably a speaker Information it says it’s being developed, defined as packet size and context-aware of the user’s environment. Altman told the crew it was “the coolest piece of technology the world has ever seen.”

While Altman and Ive promised the next big thing after the iPhone, there are internal disagreements at OpenAI. Ive’s design company LoveFrom has always been separate from OpenAI, but LoveFrom provides hardware designs for OpenAI. It’s up to OpenAI’s hardware and software developers to create the products that LoveFrom comes with.

OpenAI staff apparently complained about LoveFrom’s secrecy and slow pace when it came to design reviews. Former Apple designer Evans Hankey leads industrial design, and Ive is said to make the final call on almost all design decisions. Other former Apple employees working at OpenAI on hardware include Tang Tan and Scott Cannon, and Eddy Cue’s son Adam Cue is working on OpenAI software.