The acquisition, OpenAI’s largest to date, marks a decisive step into hardware for the company best known for its generative AI models. The deal incorporates io directly into OpenAI.
Meanwhile, Ive, a former Apple design chief, will retain independence for his design firm, LoveFrom.
The io startup, founded a year ago by Ive and former Apple colleagues Scott Cannon, Tang Tan, and Evans Hankey, was previously operated as part of LoveFrom.
OpenAI currently owns a 23% stake in io, contributing $1.4 billion to the deal’s valuation. The remaining $5 billion will be transferred in equity.
The transaction will bring io’s device-focused team in-house, adding industrial design capacity to OpenAI’s portfolio. In a statement shared on X, Altman described Ive as “the greatest designer in the world.”
The deal comes weeks after OpenAI agreed to acquire Windsurf, an AI coding assistant, for $3 billion.
Alongside its in-house efforts, OpenAI has invested in Physical Intelligence, a San Francisco-based robotics startup that raised $400 million in 2024 at a valuation of $2.4 billion.
The acquisition of io reinforces that direction. While OpenAI did not disclose specific products, the blog post referenced devices that “inspire, empower, and enable,” and emphasized IO’s mission to translate AI capabilities into consumer-oriented form factors.
