OpenAI's acquisition of IO

Extracted Attributes

• Deal Type

  All-stock deal

• Previous Stake

  OpenAI held 23% of IO Products, Inc. prior to acquisition

• Acquired Entity

  IO Products, Inc.

• Primary Purpose

  To lead OpenAI's hardware product development and create AI devices

• Acquiring Entity

  OpenAI

• Acquisition Date

  2025-05-21

• Acquisition Value

  6.5 billion USD

• Key Personnel Acquired

  Jony Ive and his team of approximately 55 engineers and researchers

• Post-Acquisition Role of Jony Ive

  Jony Ive and LoveFrom (his design firm) remain independent and assumed deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI

Timeline

• Jony Ive leaves Apple and starts his design firm, LoveFrom. (Source: Web Search)

  2019

• IO Products, Inc. is founded by Jony Ive, Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2024

• OpenAI acquires a 23% stake in IO Products, Inc. as part of an earlier agreement. (Source: Web Search)

  2024

• Discussions regarding OpenAI's acquisition of IO Products, Inc. are first reported by The Information. (Source: Web Search)

  2025-03

• OpenAI officially announces and closes the acquisition of IO Products, Inc. for $6.5 billion. (Source: Web Search)

  2025-05-21

• Following the acquisition, the IO Products, Inc. team merges with OpenAI, and Jony Ive, along with his firm LoveFrom, assumes deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI. (Source: Web Search)

  2025-05-21

• OpenAI's initial blog post announcing the acquisition was temporarily scrubbed due to a trademark lawsuit from Iyo, a hearing device startup, before being re-uploaded with clarifications. (Source: Web Search)

  2025-05-21

Io (company)

io Products, Inc. is an American artificial intelligence hardware company founded in 2024 by Jony Ive, Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. The company was acquired by OpenAI in May 2025 to lead its hardware product development.

Web Search Results

• OpenAI acquires iO for $6.5 billion: strategic pivot or headlong rush?

  On May 21, OpenAI announced the acquisition of iO, the AI hardware startup founded by Jony Ive, for $6.5 billion. The all-stock deal, which requires no cash outlay for OpenAI, which already owned 23% of the company, marks a turning point for the artificial intelligence business, which is venturing into the consumer hardware market for the first time. The move aims to combine OpenAI’s software expertise with the design know-how of Apple’s former design chief to create an alliance that could [...] However, the announcement has sparked a wide range of reactions, from praise for a strategic stroke of genius to concerns about what appears to be a “panic buy.” What exactly is going on? In short: ## The details of the deal OpenAI’s acquisition of iO representsthe largest acquisition ever made by Sam Altman‘s business. Founded just one year ago by Jony Ive alongside former Apple executives, iO has yet to release any products. [...] OpenAI’s acquisition of iO is a major strategic gamble that could redefine the AI industry or prove to be a costly investment given the maturity of the market.

• OpenAI closes its deal to buy Jony Ive's io and build AI hardware

  OpenAI has officially closed its nearly $6.5 billion acquisition of io, the hardware startup co-founded by famed former Apple designer Jony Ive, the company announced Wednesday. But it was careful to only refer to the startup as io Products Inc. The blog post initially announcing the acquisition was also scrubbed from OpenAI’s website due to a trademark lawsuit from Iyo, the hearing device startup spun out of Google’s moonshot factory. [...] Now it’s back up, with a new note: “We’re thrilled to share that the io Products, Inc. team has officially merged with OpenAI. Jony Ive and LoveFrom remain independent and have assumed deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI.” [...] OpenAI originally announced the deal and plans to create dedicated AI hardware, with a video on social media featuring its CEO, Sam Altman, and Ive. That video has been scrubbed from its website and social media channels due to the lawsuit and has not returned. “The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco,” the blog post states.

• OpenAI Unites With Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal to Create A.I. Devices

  ImageImage 6: Sam Altman is wearing a headset microphone. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive. The deal for IO is OpenAI’s biggest acquisition.Credit...Jason Henry for The New York Times The deal, which is OpenAI’s biggest acquisition, will bring in Mr. Ive and his team of roughly 55 engineers and researchers. LoveFrom will assume creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and build hardware that helps people better interact with the technology. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT [...] On Wednesday, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, said the company was paying $6.5 billion to buy IO, a one-year-old start-up created by Jony Ive, a former top Apple executive who designed the iPhone. The all-stock deal, which effectively unites Silicon Valley royalty, is intended to usher in what the two men call “a new family of products” for the age of artificial general intelligence, or A.G.I., which is shorthand for a future technology that achieves human-level intelligence. [...] OpenAI said it was buying IO, a start-up founded by Mr. Ive, the designer of the iPhone, to usher in a new era of artificial intelligence hardware. Jony Ive, a former top executive at Apple, said that the goal with OpenAI was to create “amazing products that elevate humanity.”Credit...Carolyn Fong for The New York Times Skip to contentSkip to site indexSearch & Section Navigation Section Navigation []( [](

• OpenAI buys io, former Apple designer Jony Ive's device startup - NPR

  The company announced that it is buying a device startup called io, launched by former Apple designer Jony Ive, in a deal worth just under $6.5 billion. It's OpenAI's biggest acquisition to date. The tie-up brings together two giants in the tech world: Ive, who designed the iPhone and other iconic Apple products, and OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman, who has been at the forefront of AI development. ### Technology [...] Ive and his design firm LoveFrom, which he started after leaving Apple in 2019, will assume design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io, the announcement said. Altman and Ive said they would publicly share their work next year, although they did not give details. Chirag Dekate, an analyst with the tech consultancy Gartner, called the tie-up a "decisive step to shape the user experience end-to-end."

• Jony Ive to lead OpenAI's design work following $6.5B acquisition of ...

  OpenAI is acquiring io, the device startup that CEO Sam Altman and famed Apple designer Jony Ive have quietly been working on for two years, in an all-equity deal that values that startup at $6.5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. As part of the unusual deal announced Wednesday, Ive and his design firm, LoveFrom, will now lead creative and design work at OpenAI. [...] OpenAI already had a 23% stake in io as part of an agreement between the companies last year, according to The New York Times. That means OpenAI will pay $5 billion to fully acquire io, marking the ChatGPT maker’s largest acquisition ever. Reportedly, the OpenAI Startup Fund made a separate investment in io last year. [...] Ultimately, it’s unclear what shape OpenAI’s devices will take. Later in the video, Altman noted how using a laptop or smartphone to access ChatGPT was too cumbersome. Instead, the OpenAI CEO suggested he’d rather use a device more integrated into his everyday life. The Information first reported on OpenAI’s discussions to acquire io in March. At the time, the two companies were said to be discussing building a device that would bring a version of the technology from the movie “Her” to life.