Laurene Powell Jobs and Jony Ive Reveal Why Tech Has 'Gone Sideways' in Rare Interview

[deconstruct60]

What has Loveform actually made to be sold for $6.4 billion? A typeface? An emblem for the Royal Family? That's worth that much? Isn't it a conflict of interest for Lauren Powell Jobs to be involved?

As other mentioned Loveform isn't 'io' . Although both companies largely filled with ex-Apple folks in several key positions.

Loveform got a contract with Apple to continue to do some design consulting with Apple. If he seed supporting investment was after the Apple Board gave Loveform the contract there isn't much of a conflict there. Apple invests in company X and then a board member independent also invests in company X then isn't much of a conflict.

However, if Powell Jobs invested in Loveform. Loveform couldn't find much business. Then Apple board gives Loveform a contract that pragmatically keeps the company afloat for 2-3 years , then yes that is a potential conflict. She can excuse herself from the board vote. That would be technically be OK. A bit shady if collectively the board take turns doing this using Apple to bail out their investments.

Pretty good chance Apple Ive somewhat 'off the open market' for a while after he left so that 'gift' contract would happen whether Powell Jobs invested or not. Ive leaving because he is bored /burnt out is one thing. Ive stressed with keeping his company afloat and disgruntled is likely bad PR for Apple.

In general, there are things that makes sense for Apple to invest in. If some ex-employees want to go do something else, there is nothing barring board of directors taking personal money investing in something different from Apple.
Pretty likely there is a 'intent of direction' disconnect of someone is now an ex-Apple employee. What makes sense for Apple to invest in and the directors personal investments should not always be 100% aligned. ( back in old days sometimes HP would help employees spin out into a new company following something that HP didn't want to do. )

Powell Jobs doesn't appear to be on board of OpenAI. Didn't check deep if there is some "friend on that board" action there. ( she is on 13 other boards. Didn't run down rabbit hole there to check there are no OpenAI board members on any of those. ) Decent chance someone else on the millionaire row in her SF neighborhood is connected by 1-2 levels of indirection to OpenAI somehow. If she had been on OpenAI's board and told them to buy out her investment vehicle ( io) then that would be a problem. [ Although some folks like Larry Ellison do this on a regular basis. Oracle buys out one of Larry's side investments. ]


This likely overspend on io is likely to keep Powell Jobs (Emerson Collection) and Loveform indirectly sold for a long while longer. Made wealthily folks even more wealthy so their investments made don't have to do as well and they keep the same high end lifestyle.

Pretty good chance this FT interview is more color cover story for the acquistion. It probably adds more depth to the rebirfth of Jobs+Ive mystique that Altman is looking for here ( Altman+Ive the new dynamic duo ). Powell Jobs just brings more 'Jobs' creed to the story.

It is more so the ex-phone designer folks that is really the core of what OpenAI actually gets. Ive and Powell Jobs more so get their windfall to go do more stuff of what they want to do. (their bank accounts have been flushed full). Ive will probably do some 'back seat driving' here but over time the family of devices that Open AI wants to do probably are going to get closer to phone/watch/tablet/laptop that Ive doesn't want to do.

 

[Mousse]

And we are already seeing this, there’s been articles about chatbots encouraging suicide, chatbots telling people with drug addictions the solution to their problems is to take more drugs, and obviously the famous example of the pizza glue.

ChatPTSD.😏

These AI are locked away with no sensory input. Is it any wonder they start hallucinating?🤨

 

[attila]

Yes. All these products; Humane, Rabbit, Friend, Whatever-Jony-Altman-Are-Doing, are lopsided tech products.

 

[jimbobb24]

One of his companies, IO. It was created and sold within a matter of weeks, so it seems to be have been built for this.

He still owns LoveFrom.

This is the peak of AI money wasting....what an insane valuation for a combination of two companies who haven't made any mass product hardware.

 

[jimbobb24]

Notice how its always profit for the billionaires. These fat fish make billions off of each other while they invent the collapse of the jobs based market. There's been no draft of an official plan for what happens to the rest of us as a result of AI advancement.

AI crept in as a great way to quickly riff on writing and has unquestionably advanced to the level of an entry level person in most fields. A year or two from now this same technology will eliminate the need for internships, entry level workers and mid levels - maybe even seniors in most crafts. Those that require licenses or certifications will be safe for now. Notably those who write their own laws to regulate industry - lawyers. For the rest of us, it will be losing our job and career... and really - losing our way of life.

I know where your mind is going. The 'buck up' mentality. But this is super toxic. The AI influencers pushing the "you need to embrace AI or get replaced" is so short sighted. AI won't just augment you - the plan is to replace you entirely. If nothing is done by the governments of the world to force companies to continue to hire people to manage this AI workforce, there will be no use for us all. Companies that once employed thousands of engineers will shrink down to hundreds and then fewer. The same goes across every industry. The greed at the top will find ways to enslave this new AI workforce. Its cost efficiencies will eliminate the need to employ people who make mistakes or get sick on occasion. When everyone is out of a job, there will be none to find. AI prompters will eventually meet their own doom when the AI bots prompt and manage themselves.

And then you have those that say "you'll need to move to a blue collar job". Optimus and friends will take care of those ones too in due time. Cabs drive themselves. Food on delivery without a delivery person. A robot workforce fixes pipes and electrical lines, installs drywall, serves the rich dinner at restaurants surrounded by their wealthy peers...

And this speaks nothing about society as a whole. Art is deeply rooted in our culture. When you give the ability to craft anything at a prompt to anyone, art is no longer special. A generation of "oh I can do that in a second" will generate what used to take hours of craftsmanship from years of knowledge. You're taking away the nuances of humans and their gifts and making everything average.

Lunatics will defend it until we are all left sitting in a circle with nothing to our names wondering how stupid we were for doing nothing about it when it all started - today.

OpenAI with its billions is still trying to go for-profit. AI should be owned by all of humanity and the prosperity should be shared by all. But history has shown us that we are always left with nothing because the daft are too willing to go along with the pot so as long as it slowly boils them to death.

This type of hysteria is not necessary. Most changes will come slow. Ai will come for my job in 10-15 years and it will come. So save your money, have back up plans. But the change won't come in a day and new opportunities will be made. You are reacting like the horse whip manufacturer seeing a car. Robots replacing plumbers is...a long way off. Robot cars are crazy hard and only one company has done it and the robot is 150K. Imagine the robot needs to parse three dimensions and have infinite variations instead of just forward, break, right, left, reverse. Robots are not taking jobs for awhile.

If robots do everything and if all the AI dreams happen that means stuff is about to get so cheap that you can probably survive on very little. It's no more for the rich than every advance in the past...most of which in the short and long term help the poor. Global poverty will continue to go down and AI will help with that. But also save you money and have back up plans.

 

[Sphincty]

Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs have given a rare joint interview to the Financial Times, addressing their collaboration, their concerns about technology's social impact, and OpenAI's mysterious hardware device.

The interview follows the recent acquisition of Ive's AI startup, IO, by OpenAI in a $6.4 billion deal. Ive was Apple's Chief Design Officer and led the design of products including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and Apple Watch. Powell Jobs is the widow of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. She was an early investor in IO said she has been closely involved with Ive's work since his departure from Apple in 2019.

Ive explained that Powell Jobs was instrumental in enabling his transition from Apple, saying, "If it wasn't for Laurene, there wouldn't be LoveFrom." Before supporting IO, Powell Jobs backed LoveFrom via her organization Emerson Collective.

While neither Ive nor Powell Jobs disclosed further details about the hardware device in development at OpenAI, they offered insight into the motivations behind the project and their shared belief that current technology has failed to adequately serve human wellbeing. Both expressed concern over the direction technology has taken in the years since the launch of the iPhone. Powell Jobs cited evidence of increasing mental health problems among young people as one consequence:



Ive agreed, acknowledging that even innovations developed with the best intentions can produce harmful outcomes:



Powell Jobs declined to comment on whether the OpenAI device would compete directly with Apple, and emphasized her continued ties to the company:



The interview also touched on broader changes in Silicon Valley culture. Ive moved to the United States in the 1990s to join Apple, but said the tech industry had lost much of its original sense of purpose:



Previous reports from The Wall Street Journal and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that OpenAI's first hardware device may be a compact, screenless, wearable AI companion. Kuo said it may resemble the iPod Shuffle in form factor, be worn around the neck, and begin mass production in 2027. The WSJ described the device as a user's "third core device" after a smartphone and laptop, potentially offering persistent environmental awareness and personal context.

Ive said that the project has reignited his optimism about technology. The device is apparently being designed with a mentality of "we deserve better. Humanity deserves better." Read the full Financial Times interview for more information.

Article Link: Laurene Powell Jobs and Jony Ive Reveal Why Tech Has 'Gone Sideways' in Rare Interview

The character Jeff in the film Mountainhead reminds me a bit of Ive...he tries to be separate from the other 3 but is just the same... just with better virtue signaling technique...

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I'm reminded of the hype about the Segway... "a revolutionary new transportation device that will transform our cities"... until people got a look at it.

And then it became the transportation of choice for Paul Blart, Mall Cop.

“People are going to build neighborhoods around this thing!”

 

[deconstruct60]

This is the peak of AI money wasting....what an insane valuation for a combination of two .

Peak? I wouldn't beat on that. OpenAI is a non-profit taking in 10's of billions each year in new ventural capital investments.

VC firmX puts money in hopper. Guides OpenAI into cleaning up their maturing funding round investments with new money that is locked in. Rinse and repeat. It won't instantly explore. As long there is huge visceral (like WTF did you just do with our money) reaction to VC firms dumping money into a non-profit ... this kind of kool-aid drinking can go on for a long while until the ponzi kind of effect here gets to be problematical.

Musk is suing to keep it a non-profit which means the whole purpose , money-inflow mismatch is likely to keep going until that trial is over. The bucket of kool-aid to drink here is quite large and there are a busloads of drinkers.

 

[TechWhisperer]

Observing Apple these days feels like witnessing a plane crash unfold in slow motion.

My bet is on OpenAI.

 

[Sippincider]

They want to break into hardware and be the new Apple. Best way is to bring the guy that was supposed to be the creative replacement for Steve Jobs on board. It undercuts Apple and hits them where they are weak.

Getting a bit of a feeling that IO was Ive's NeXT, intended to get Apple out of their AI corner. OpenAI beat Apple to the purchase.

 

[TheColtr]

Powell Jobs is another woman who happened to marry rich in Silicon Valley. She has no understanding of the technology. Just a socially liberal elite.

 

[gagaliya]

Jony and Altman can say what they want about Rabbit. At least they aren’t being backed by some shadowy figures and there’s no subscription fees, all the while you get LAM. Rabbit is actually working on bringing value and pioneering something new, all
The while Jony and Altman are old hat trying to milk more money out of folks.

Rabbit is a scam, the founder had a history of scamming people with meme coins etc…go watch the coffeezilla piece on the guy. The thing is a piece of crap that never works

 

[Lioness~]

I don't understand all hate in this thread - I assume most are covered jealousy.

Is Ive not allowed to explore various things after he left Apple?
The world is changing - more for some then other's obviously.

I'm very interested to see what venture Ive and Powel-Jobs are supporting, very much so!

As much as I still appreciate and need my Apple devices - and loved Apple during Jobs leadership - Apple are not inspiring at all for me today - it's just products I use, no more or less.

 

[ThomasJL]

Laurene Powell Jobs has an MBA degree, which is soulless enough by itself, but what makes her worse is that she got hers from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which is one of the most soulless institutions in the world.

One shouldn’t really care what an MBA like her says about technology because the MBA degree is not about innovation but rather about following established conventions in order to maximize profits. That’s what Tim Cook does, and it’s no surprise that he has an MBA degree.

MBAs don’t ask themselves “What would Steve Jobs do?” Instead, MBAs ask themselves “What would McKinsey do?”

 

[Simmias]

Laurene Powell Jobs is pure evil. She’s devoted Steve Jobs’ fortune to a variety of causes he never would have supported and reflect her own agenda.

 

[jamesnajera]

Here is the new device from IO, right there in the shirt pocket.

 

[delsoul]

Here is the new device from IO, right there in the shirt pocket.

Why is Joaquin phoenix walking around with one in his pocket?

 

[delsoul]

Rabbit is a scam, the founder had a history of scamming people with meme coins etc…go watch the coffeezilla piece on the guy. The thing is a piece of crap that never works

I still trust Rabbit and its founder more than I trust Sam Altman…

 

[stevemiller]

While I agree with the diagnosis of current tech’s issues, I’m not exactly buying their prescription of “just get this ai gizmo we can’t say anything about”

 

[TSE]

Does anyone else get the sense that Laurene and Jony are more than friends?

 

[turbineseaplane]

"Tech has gone sideways"

also

"Our Humane Pin 2.0 is not like that though and you should be excited and buy it"

mmkay.

 

[jamesnajera]

Why is Joaquin phoenix walking around with one in his pocket?

It’s from the movie Her. I bet something like this is what they are making.

 

[koelsh]

It's my feeling that Johnny Ive is someone who needs an editor and Steve Jobs was a superb editor.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

You haven't seen the acquistion video ? Don't have to 'imagine' the "this is going to be better than sex" voiceover... it is already recorded.

From the video:
Altman: “I want anybody to say, hey, I have this idea. Make it happen.”

That could be great, but it also sounds something like what led to the downfall of the Krell civilization in “Forbidden Planet”, in which once they developed the massive machine that enabled everyone to make their desires real in physical form, and to project those desired forms anywhere on the planet, their “id monsters” used the technology to do just that. That’s kind of like the “sideways” result that Altman and Ive describe happening with current technology that enables people to do some pretty troubling stuff if their id monsters want to.

So I have to wonder how their new product will avoid a repeat of that, if it genuinely enables everyone to make just about any of their ideas happen.

 

[Parowdy]

Bro not to be rude, but YOUR design decisions made 3 YEARS of MacBooks unbearable. We can blame Intel all we want, but for the faulty keyboards, glued in batteries, awful heat management and too tight tolerances between screens and keyboards, I blame YOU.
You made people fall in love with a product that was bad and far from environmentally friendly, and you dragged customers in for 3 years with no alternative to turn to.
You are not missed at Apple. Not by me at least.