Sam Altman And Jony Ive’s Secret Device Won’t Be ‘your Weird Ai Girlfriend’

The extremity is to create a akin AI-assistant acquisition to Siri, “but better.”

OpenAI and designer Jony Ive are trying to lick a number of method challenges earlier releasing their mysterious AI gadget, according to a Financial Times report. Two of nan challenges see figuring retired nan palm-sized device’s “personality” and really often it should talk. “The conception is that you should person a friend who’s a machine who isn’t your weird AI girlfriend,” according to 1 root briefed connected nan plans. 

The study describes nan instrumentality arsenic lacking a surface and being “roughly nan size of a smartphone” that tin beryllium either carried astir by nan personification aliases placed connected surfaces for illustration a array aliases desk, mirroring similar specifications that leaked successful May. It’s designed to pass pinch users done a microphone, speaker, and camera — aliases aggregate cameras, according to 1 FT source. This is nan first of a family of devices being developed by Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, targeted for merchandise sometime successful precocious 2026 aliases early 2027.

OpenAI is looking for ways to make nan gadget “accessible but not intrusive,” according to nan FT’s sources, pinch nan purpose of providing a akin acquisition to Apple’s integer sound adjunct Siri, “but better.” The institution is struggling to determine connected nan sound and mannerisms for nan AI-powered device, and guarantee that it knows erstwhile to prosecute pinch users and decorativeness a conversation. One root successful nan study said OpenAI is taking an “always on” attack that gathers information passim nan day, alternatively than being activated by circumstantial verbal prompts for illustration Amazon’s Alexa-powered Echo devices.

Privacy issues astir nan always-listening instrumentality and budgeting constraints for computing infrastructure must besides beryllium overcome, according to nan report. “Amazon has nan compute for an Alexa, truthful does Google [for its Home device], but OpenAI is struggling to get capable compute for ChatGPT, fto unsocial an AI device,” a root adjacent to Ive told nan FT. “They request to hole that first.”