Jony Ive, a Prototype, and $6.5B of Belief

OpenAI just bought Jony Ive’s secretive AI hardware startup, io, for $6.5 billion. No product. No launch. Just a prototype and a promise.

That’s a different kind of bet than we saw with Humane or Rabbit—both of which rushed to market and got dragged for it. Humane had vision but tripped over execution. Rabbit had hype but missed on infrastructure. We covered both. No mercy.

Now comes OpenAI—playing long, playing serious.

This isn’t just a hardware experiment. It’s a full-stack move:

• Ive’s team joins OpenAI under a new hardware division
• LoveFrom (his design studio) now owns all product aesthetics across OpenAI
• First device expected in 2026

So what’s different this time?

• Design credibility: Ive helped define the smartphone era. If anyone can imagine what comes after it, it’s him.
• Model access: This isn’t a thin wrapper on GPT-3.5. This is in-house, bleeding-edge AI—from the source.
• Timeline: Humane and Rabbit sprinted to ship. OpenAI is pacing for impact.

Still—$6.5B is steep. It implies not just a new device, but a new category. Something ambient. Post-phone. AI-native.

Is it the next iPhone moment? Or the most expensive concept sketch in AI history?

We’ll find out in 2026. For now, consider us skeptical—but watching very, very closely.

‍At Swept, we track the signals inside the hype.Humane rushed. Rabbit stumbled.OpenAI? They’re building in the shadows.Let’s see what emerges.