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OpenAI Finalizes Deal for Jony Ive's 'io' AI Hardware Company

mattopotamus said:
It looks like two lovers, such a weird choice.
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Jonny may have designed, only for himself, the world only most well-made, super thin, splendid colorful and super easy-to-use but plug with a most powerful and sophisticated computer that runs at the highest performance per watt inside with all sorts of wireless communications and a super powerful vibrator plus precisely crafted round corners and a noticeable hump. And, it’s aluminum! Tim: I want to try it too!
 
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By the time Ive left Apple it really seemed like his influence was more of a bad thing than a good thing without Steve. I’m weary of Altman, but maybe he and Ive will come up with something cool. I agree, that photo is not good.
 
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Who killed the OpenAI whistleblower?

And no, this not off-topic, it's important. The OpenAI whistleblower, Suchir Balaji, said he was willing to testify regarding copyright wrongdoings on the part of OpenAI. He told all of his friends he didn't like Sam after working with him and said he couldn't be trusted. Something his mother said he has never said about anybody in his life.

And then he apparently died by suicide on November 26, 2024, without leaving a letter, and the police first on the scene (via documented bodycam footage) immediately said it looked like a murder when they checked around the rooms and noticed evidence of a struggle. In less than a week the Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide before a proper investigation had time to take place.

Spoiler: GPT is built on stolen data, and people were willing to kill to protect that information.
 
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MacRumors said:


OpenAI has completed its acquisition of Jony Ive's AI startup io Products, OpenAI said today in a letter from CEO Sam Altman and Ive.

ive-and-altman.jpg

The io Products team has now officially merged with OpenAI, though Jony Ive and his LoveFrom design firm remain independent. Ive and LoveFrom have taken over "deep design and creative responsibilities" at OpenAI. OpenAI paid an estimated $6.5 billion for io.

OpenAI first announced plans to purchase Jony Ive's startup back in May, and at the time, the two shared a video on their future plans. Ive and Altman are creating a new family of AI devices. "The products that we're using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology, they're decades old," said Jony Ive in the acquisition announcement. "It's just common sense to at least think surely there's something beyond these legacy products."

Ive will design the AI device that OpenAI will eventually launch, and several former Apple design employees who co-founded io with Ive are also moving to OpenAI. While Ive provides design, OpenAI will handle the AI expertise.

Recent information indicates that Ive and Altman's first device won't be an in-ear device or wearable, and will instead sit in a pocket or on a desk alongside a Mac and an iPhone. Other rumors suggest that the pocket-sized product will be contextually aware of the wearer's surroundings and life, providing insight screen-free.

Article Link: OpenAI Finalizes Deal for Jony Ive's 'io' AI Hardware Company
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I cannot wait for the AI crash
 
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What a disgraceful waste of shareholder funds. If this isn't an indication of bubble territory what is? There is NOTHING that could possibly justify such a valuation on a company with zero released product. What could possibly be created whose functionality could not be replicated on a smartphone platform?
 
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OpenAi recently lost most of its best engineers and on the other hand gained a designer. It’s not a good look for a “headless” software company.
 
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Digital Dude said:
Forget carrying another device in my pocket, but more importantly, has anyone seen that creepy video? Maybe I’m just getting old, but do I really want to know, or do any of you want others to know exactly where you are, what you’re doing, how many texts you’ve sent, and every detail of your movements? Talk about an advertising bonanza with all that data. 😵‍💫
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I just love the walks. Jony stomping and bouncing around like a child, and Sam’s calculated robotic stride.
 
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Plerf said:
I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again: there’s nothing that they can make that can’t be done by a current phone or in the very next generation after they launch their product.

The only way for this device to succeed is a marketing miracle, because there’s nothing that can’t be done by the damn thing we already carry around.

Do you want a phone and a doodad, or just your phone?
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how about no phone and just a 'doodad' ?
 
well, at least, kudos to his worth ethic. If I were him I'd be years into relaxing on the island I had bought or rented and enjoying some very iOS 12-inspired skeuomorphic ocean waves, lush green golf courses, textured sand around my toes, some green felt pool tables, a nicely wood-grained beach chair, and some vivid-colored Bahama Breezes instead of monochromatic liquid glass water....
 
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MacRumors said:
Recent information indicates that Ive and Altman's first device won't be an in-ear device or wearable, and will instead sit in a pocket or on a desk alongside a Mac and an iPhone. Other rumors suggest that the pocket-sized product will be contextually aware of the wearer's surroundings and life, providing insight screen-free.
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Sounds like the Humane Pin, and I imagine it'll sell just as well. :p

Seriously, the only way to make a good AI device is if it's in a smartwatch or smartglasses form, or as a software assistant on a phone. Anything else is just too silly.
 
Is it reasonable to view io Products more as a design concept than a company with tangible output? LoveFrom’s most concrete creation so far might be the Terra Carta seal they designed for King Charles III—hardly a consumer product. So did OpenAI effectively spend $6.5 billion to secure the cachet and brand gravity that Jony Ive’s name brings to any project he's involved in? Is there real future potential shareholder value beneath the hype? Some powerful decision-makers clearly believe so, or they wouldn’t have signed off on that kind of money.
 
...Looking at Jony Ive's latest videos on YouTube such as "A conversation with Jony Ive", I cannot help but think that there is something very unusual with the way he moves his hands, arms, and feet. Very jittery, fidgety, resting tremors (pill rolling) etc. He is either suffering from something such as Parkinson's disease or suffering from side effects from drugs/medication. Either way something is off by a mile regarding his demeanor.
 
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richinaus said:
how about no phone and just a 'doodad' ?
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A doodad that lives in your pocket? So far we’ve learned it’s not a wearable and it has no screen or earphone or camera.

What’s it gonna do, tap Morse code on your leg? Do you take it out and hold against your ear? Do you swallow it and get communications from inside your colon?

If it has no camera, no earpiece, and no screen, that leaves…….sensors. It will pick up on, I dunno, gps, nfc, wifi, bt, LTE, etc. it will use AI to analyze that data and then provide (probably via app) some sort of knowledge to us.

If only I already had a device in my pocket that already does or can do all of that.

I just fail to see how this isn’t OpenAI chasing a collective psychosis between Ive and Altman driven by billions of dollars of over-exuberant company “valuation” and no one to tell them they’ve lost the plot.
 
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Gummiwise said:
Is it reasonable to view io Products more as a design concept than a company with tangible output? LoveFrom’s most concrete creation so far might be the Terra Carta seal they designed for King Charles III—hardly a consumer product. So did OpenAI effectively spend $6.5 billion to secure the cachet and brand gravity that Jony Ive’s name brings to any project he's involved in? Is there real future potential shareholder value beneath the hype? Some powerful decision-makers clearly believe so, or they wouldn’t have signed off on that kind of money.
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Wealth doesn’t make you smart. But it does make you think you’re smart.

That’s what this feels like to me. They’ll waste billions and then conclude that other people just didn’t “get it.”
 
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