The first hardware product to emerge from the collaboration between OpenAI and legendary designer Jony Ive is not a futuristic headset or a foldable phone. According to new reporting, it is a battery-powered, doughnut-shaped smart speaker roughly the size of a hockey puck. The device is expected to arrive in 2027 with a price above $300, and it is being designed for people who want an AI assistant that can move naturally through the home without being tethered to a screen.

A New Kind of Smart Speaker

The device is described as essentially a smart speaker without a display, but it appears to offer much more than audio playback. It will reportedly have a unique look with multiple moving parts, including some that move on their own to show when the device is responding or interacting with the user. This kinetic quality could make the AI assistant feel more present and aware.

Alongside moving elements, the gadget is said to include lights, a camera system, and a range of sensors. Those components would allow the device to recognize when someone is nearby, track gestures, and maintain a sense of spatial awareness. In that way, it could work more like a companion than a traditional speaker, blending physical cues with voice-based AI.

Portable, But Not Pocketable

One of the most distinctive details is the product's size and mobility. The device is battery-powered and designed to be easy to carry around the home with one hand. It is being compared to Amazon's now-discontinued Tap speaker, which was a portable smart speaker that users could move from room to room. The comparison suggests OpenAI and Ive are aiming for something far less stationary than most existing smart home devices.

A doughnut-shaped, hockey puck-sized object with battery power could make it possible to hold an AI conversation in the kitchen, then bring the device to the living room or bedroom without losing context. That kind of portability has been difficult to deliver in the smart speaker category. Amazon, Google, and Apple have largely designed their speakers to sit in one place, relying on cloud services to keep context across multiple devices. This product would take a different approach by letting a single object travel with the user.

ChatGPT Voice Mode, Taken Further

The new speaker will apparently work in a similar way to ChatGPT's voice mode on smartphone apps, but with more advanced models designed for humanlike interactivity. Smartphone apps already allow people to speak with OpenAI's chatbot and receive spoken responses in near real time. A standalone device would remove the phone from the equation, allowing the AI to listen, see, and respond through a dedicated piece of hardware.

The addition of cameras and sensors could make the device more context-aware than a typical smart speaker. It might be able to recognize who is speaking, notice facial expressions, or respond to visual cues in the room. The moving parts could offer non-verbal feedback, making the interaction feel less like pressing a button and more like talking to someone who is paying attention.

Jony Ive's Return to Hardware

Jony Ive is one of the most famous product designers in modern technology. He spent more than two decades at Apple and was responsible for the look and feel of some of the most important consumer products of the past 30 years, including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and Apple Watch. He left Apple in 2019 to form LoveFrom, an independent design firm whose clients included Airbnb and Ferrari. LoveFrom later partnered with OpenAI on a mysterious hardware project, raising expectations that Ive might reshape AI devices the way he reshaped smartphones and computers.

Ive's involvement has generated enormous interest because it signals a focus on physical form, tactile materials, and user experience at a time when many AI products are still largely software-based. His design language often favors simplicity, lightness, and carefully considered details. The reported doughnut-shaped device, with its moving parts and sensors, could represent a major departure from the glass-and-metal approach that dominated his time at Apple.

An Awkward But Interesting Partnership

The project is not without complications. The report specifically notes that the device will look and feel nothing like an Apple product, despite the fact that Apple and OpenAI are currently involved in a legal dispute. In recent months, Apple has accused OpenAI of trade secret theft, and OpenAI has sharply rejected those claims. The legal fight has added tension to a relationship that was already complicated by competition in the AI market.

For Ive, the challenge is to create something that feels original and not reminiscent of the products he used to design. The same minimalism that made the iPhone iconic could easily become a liability in a device connected to OpenAI. The report's emphasis on unique moving parts suggests that Ive and his team are exploring a different kind of product language, one based on responsiveness and behavior rather than static surfaces.

A Crowded and Uncertain AI Hardware Market

OpenAI would not be the first company to try to make a dedicated AI gadget. The past few years have seen the rise and fall of products like the Humane AI Pin, which aimed to replace the smartphone with a wearable projector and voice assistant, and the Rabbit R1, a small orange device designed to perform tasks through an AI agent. Both products received enthusiastic early attention but struggled in reviews and failed to convince consumers they were worth the price.

Amazon and Google have also poured years of effort into smart speakers and displays, but those devices are mostly tied to their respective ecosystems. OpenAI's device could be different because it is not being built around an existing app store, media service, or operating system. It is being built specifically for ChatGPT and the large language models that power it.

Even the Amazon Tap, which is used as a comparison for the new device, was not a success in its original form. The Tap was a portable smart speaker that cost around $130 and required users to press a button to talk to Alexa, a design choice that confused many people. The fact that OpenAI and Ive are using a similar form factor suggests they believe portable, hand-held AI could finally work now that language models have become more advanced and responsive.

Expected Launch and Price

According to the report, the device is expected to launch in 2027 and cost more than $300. That price would put it in the upper range of the smart speaker market, well above the typical $50 to $200 price bracket for Echo and Nest devices. OpenAI is likely betting that consumers will pay a premium for a device with advanced conversational capabilities, a camera system, and design work from Ive.

However, a price above $300 also raises the stakes. Consumers have shown willingness to pay hundreds of dollars for smartphones, headphones, and smartwatches, but they have been far less willing to pay for standalone AI voice devices. The Humane AI Pin was initially priced at $699 before its disappointing launch, and Rabbit R1 sold for $199. OpenAI will have to convince people that a hockey puck-sized speaker can deliver experiences they cannot get from a free mobile app.

A Family of Devices in the Works

The speaker may only be the beginning. The report says it could be the first in a family of devices that OpenAI has planned. That wording implies a broader hardware strategy, one that might eventually include wearables, cameras, or other form factors. The company has already made a significant move into consumer products with ChatGPT and other software, but hardware represents a way to control the interaction experience from start to finish.

Hardware is also a way to escape the limits of app stores and mobile operating systems. By designing its own device, OpenAI can optimize everything from microphone placement to battery life to the way the AI expresses attention through movement. The family of devices could eventually work together, sharing context and providing a continuous AI presence across different parts of a person's life.

What the Device Means for the Future of AI

The reported details point to a vision in which AI is not hidden behind a screen but embedded in an object that people can touch, carry, and observe. Moving parts, lights, cameras, and sensors all suggest a device that is meant to be seen as alive in some way. That is a very different approach from most modern smart speakers, which are often black or gray cylinders waiting to be awakened by a wake word.

If Ive and OpenAI can deliver a device that feels like a natural companion rather than a tool, it could open the door to a new category of consumer electronics. It could also encourage other companies to rethink how AI hardware is designed. Apple's own legal battle with OpenAI may be about trade secrets, but the larger contest is over where and how people will interact with artificial intelligence in the years ahead.

The device is still expected to launch in 2027, which means there is a long runway before the final product is revealed. OpenAI has a history of changing plans as technology improves, and Ive's design process is known for being meticulous. But the early reports make one thing clear: the future of AI hardware may not look like a phone, a watch, or a glasses frame. It might look like a hockey puck you can talk to.

Source:The Verge News