The MacRumors Show: Can OpenAI Really Beat the iPhone?

[neutrino17]

The AI crowd has a hammer and they see every problem as a nail. I just don’t see AI as that useful. It does some things well, other things poorly, other things not at all. Overhype of AI has resulted in mountains of slop. If I was forced to use an AI here is the first command I’d give it: Get Lost!

If these guys ever manage to get a product to market it will be DOA, just like Zune or Fire Phone or Facebook Phone.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

The AI crowd has a hammer and they see every problem as a nail. I just don’t see AI as that useful. It does some things well, other things poorly, other things not at all. Overhype of AI has resulted in mountains of slop. If I was forced to use an AI here is the first command I’d give it: Get Lost!

If these guys ever manage to get a product to market it will be DOA, just like Zune or Fire Phone or Facebook Phone.

I've been trying to use Copilot 365 at work, because of the "it's just a tool, use it or be left behind" speech that so many of my coworkers crow about. I keep asking it to do relatively simple monotonous tasks (the things it should be really good at), and it has referenced completely different folders than what I pointed it at, or it has confidently given me the wrong answers. What annoys me most about these models is how they value confidence and engagement over accuracy. I simply can't trust their output.

 

[RogueWarrior65]

People aren't going to want a faceless device especially one that you have to pay an indeterminate amount of money to use. "Hey, Doofus, (I named the AI Doofus) I need a recommendation for a good restaurant." "There's a Del Taco fairly close to you." "No, I said a good restaurant." "There's a vegan place where you have to declare fealty to the woke mind virus." "No, you doofus, I want a steak." "You called me a doofus. That language is hurtful. I'm not responding to you anymore you racist, sexist, bigot. Also, I've locked you out of your bank account."

 

[klasma]

Betteridge’s law of headlines.

 

[kurtfoster]

No.

 

[thelion7]

This week's episode of The MacRumors Show covers OpenAI's move into hardware and the trade secret lawsuit Apple filed against the company earlier this month.

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Apple sued OpenAI in the Northern District of California on July 10, alleging a months-long scheme to obtain confidential information about unreleased products. The complaint centers on OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran who previously led iPhone product design, and former Apple electrical engineer Chang Liu. Apple claims Tan coached recruits on evading its exit-interview security procedures and told at least one employee to bring hardware components to an interview, and that OpenAI persuaded a supplier to apply a proprietary metal-finishing technique to an OpenAI device by falsely stating it had Apple's permission. The filing describes OpenAI's hardware business as "rotten to its core."

The suit follows a souring of the 2024 partnership that brought ChatGPT to Siri, with OpenAI itself weighing legal options against Apple in May. More than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, including Vision Products Group leader Paul Meade, and former design chief Jony Ive leads design on the hardware lineup through LoveFrom after OpenAI's $6.5 billion acquisition of his startup io Products. Apple has countered with retention bonuses of up to $400,000 and has now sent legal preservation letters to around 40 former employees, suggesting it believes the alleged misappropriation goes beyond those named. OpenAI says it has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets."

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman argues the case is already causing damage ahead of any ruling, deterring Apple engineers from interviewing at OpenAI and making Asian suppliers wary of deepening ties with the company. Ive is not named in the complaint, which Gurman believes was deliberate given Apple's relationship with io Products investor Laurene Powell Jobs.

OpenAI's first device, teased for months by Ive and CEO Sam Altman, is believed to be a portable, screenless smart speaker that is now expected in early 2027 at $200 to $300. Powered by ChatGPT and GPT-Live, it has a rechargeable battery so it can be carried between rooms, a camera for understanding its surroundings, and motorized elements that move on their own to give a sense that the device is alive. OpenAI reportedly does not regard the HomePod or HomePod mini as comparable, and people familiar with the project told Bloomberg the device is unlike anything Apple sells, making infringement unlikely. Apple's own smart home hub is the closest analogue.

Further out, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that OpenAI is developing an "AI agent phone" built around a continuous, context-aware interface rather than individual apps, with the company controlling both the operating system and the hardware. Kuo has since revised his mass production expectation from 2028 to the first half of 2027, projecting combined 2027 and 2028 shipments of around 30 million units. The device is rumored to be a direct iPhone rival.

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If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up to hear our discussion where we look ahead to the 20th anniversary iPhone, the radically redesigned model that Apple is expected to launch in 2027.

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Hey, if the Fire Phone can do it.

Anyone can!