OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and legendary former Apple design chief Jony Ive told The Verge that they now have a working prototype of OpenAI’s first hardware device — a small, likely screen-free AI gadget designed as a new kind of “third device” alongside phone and laptop. The comments were made during an interview at Emerson Collective’s 2025 Demo Day, hosted by Laurene Powell Jobs. Source: The Verge.

• Prototype ready: Altman said “we finally have the first prototypes,” describing the device as “simple and beautiful and playful,” after rejecting earlier designs that didn’t feel compelling.
• Design philosophy: Ive contrasted today’s smartphones — like “walking through Times Square” — with the goal of something closer to “sitting in a cabin by a lake,” emphasizing calm, ambient intelligence over notification overload.
• Form factor: Reporting suggests the device is pocket-sized and screenless, not a wearable, likely relying on voice and sensors instead of apps and icons.
• Timeline: Altman and Ive indicated the product could reach consumers in under two years, following OpenAI’s multibillion-dollar acquisition of Ive’s hardware company io.
• “Lick test”: The pair joked about a “lick or bite” test — meaning the device should be so delightful and intuitive that people feel an almost childlike urge to touch it.

Why it matters: OpenAI is moving from pure software into AI-native hardware, betting that the next era of computing will need new devices, not just new apps. A calm, ambient ChatGPT gadget could redefine how we access AI—if it can live up to the immense design and usability expectations around the Altman–Ive partnership.