{"id":254013,"date":"2026-01-23T18:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/254013\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T18:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:32:14","slug":"as-confusion-reigns-over-jony-ives-io-device-i-remain-an-ai-hardware-skeptic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/254013\/","title":{"rendered":"As confusion reigns over Jony Ive’s iO device, I remain an AI hardware skeptic"},"content":{"rendered":"

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AI hardware has been in the news this week, with the Apple pin report<\/a> getting most of the headlines. But there was also a new claim about OpenAI\u2019s upcoming AI hardware device<\/a> under iO branding.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more than eight months since former Apple design chief Jony Ive<\/a> and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman teased it, and we\u2019re still no closer to knowing its form factor. The latest report doesn\u2019t exactly help, appearing to contradict what the pair have already said \u2026<\/p>\n

Jony Ive\u2019s iO device<\/p>\n

In May of last year, Ive and Altman released what I described at the time<\/a> as a strong candidate for most frustrating video of the year. The pair promised a completely new concept in AI hardware, but gave very little clue as to what that might be.<\/p>\n

\u201cJony recently gave me one of the prototypes of the device for the first time to take home, and I\u2019ve been able to live with it\u2014and I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mostly, all I was able to piece together from the various clues was what it is (probably) not.<\/p>\n

The only form factor that has so far made any sense to me is smart glasses, but Altman has specifically said that io is not a pair of glasses, while both have also made it clear that it\u2019s not a phone. The pair strongly imply it\u2019s a form factor we haven\u2019t yet seen, which would seem to rule out a badge, a smartwatch, a smart ring, or in-ear headphones.<\/p>\n

It was also made clear that it either doesn\u2019t have a screen or at least that the screen is not the main way we interact with it. It was a 9to5Mac reader who suggested that it might be a pen, and that theory did strike me as having a lot going for it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

AirPods confusion<\/p>\n

Things got a little more confusing this week when a Weibo blogger<\/a> suggested that it would comprise \u201ctwo pill-shaped gadgets that rest behind the ear,\u201d and that it was intended to be used instead of AirPods.<\/p>\n

Hearing fresh detail on Openai \u201cTo-go\u201d hardware project from last report. Now confirmed it is a special audio product to replace Airpod [\u2026] There are two pills that are removed and rest behind the ear.<\/p>\n

This was picked up<\/a> by a number of sites<\/a>, despite the fact that it clearly appears to contradict the little that OpenAI has said about it.<\/p>\n

I remain cautiously skeptical<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been two years since two separate companies made high-profile attempts to launch AI hardware devices, the\u00a0Humane AI Pin<\/a> and the\u00a0Rabbit R1<\/a>. Predictably, both were abject failures.<\/p>\n

I said at the time that trying to sell AI hardware today is like inventing the iPod after the iPhone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Much as I still love the iPod concept, to me it no longer makes sense to carry a dedicated chunk of hardware just to play all the music I own, when I can instead use the device which is already in my pocket to play (almost) all the music in the world, whether or not I own it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same thing with AI hardware today. If smartphones didn\u2019t exist, these devices would be enormously exciting, and I\u2019d want one, despite their current limitations. But smartphones\u00a0do\u00a0exist, and I can\u2019t see a single reason why these devices aren\u2019t simply apps.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve acknowledged that it would be brave to bet against Ive and Altman given their respective track records. If anyone could pull off something so seemingly unlikely, it would be that combination of hardware and software expertise.<\/p>\n

But as cautious as I try to be in dismissing the idea, I still really struggle to see a role for such a device. A pen does strike me as the least-worst form factor, since a lot of people carry one anyway, and for the rest of us it would be a pretty painless thing to slip into a pocket. But that still leaves the question of why would we add a piece of hardware when everyone already has a smartphone on them?<\/p>\n

It also doesn\u2019t address the enormous privacy issues<\/a> I discussed in yesterday\u2019s piece about the alleged Apple pin. Sure, OpenAI cares much less about this than Apple does, but it\u2019s still a huge barrier to adoption.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m still not seeing it<\/p>\n

It seems to me the entire selling point of such devices is that they are always on, with all of the privacy issues involved. If they are not always on, and we have to manually activate them, then that again raises the question of why we don\u2019t just use our smartphone.<\/p>\n

I mean, I\u2019m sure it will be beautiful, perhaps even sufficiently so that I will lust after it. Heck, I feel that way about the stock photo of the fountain pen at the top of this piece and about technology like the reMarkable Paper Pro<\/a>, despite the fact that I haven\u2019t handwritten anything more than my signature for a good decade or two.<\/p>\n

But whatever aesthetic appeal the device may have for me, I will be very surprised indeed if I end up buying one \u2013 and no less surprised if a significant number of other people do. What say you? <\/p>\n

Photo by\u00a0Towfiqu barbhuiya<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n

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