The Shape Of What’s Coming

'World's greatest designer' Jony Ive joins OpenAI to 'reimagine' computers.

Sir Jony Ive, the hugely influential British designer responsible for the look of Apple's most iconic and successful products, is joining OpenAI.

Boss Sam Altman said he was "thrilled" to be partnering with the man he called the "greatest designer in the world".

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is buying Sir Jony's startup, io, in a $6.5bn (£4.7bn) deal.

Mr Altman said he was excited to "try to create a new generation of AI-powered computers" together.

Sir Jony - who designed the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad - will "assume deep design and creative responsibilities" across the company, the two firms said in an announcement.

Re-imagining the computer

AI software has made rapid advances in recent years, spearheaded by ChatGPT.

But developing new hardware based around it has proved more of a challenge - with several recent attempts failing to interest consumers and attracting derision from reviewers.

Mr Altman though has spoken of his confidence that this partnership can succeed where others have failed.

"I think we have the opportunity here to kind of completely re-imagine what it means to use a computer," he said in a video that accompanied the announcement.

Sir Jony said he believed the world was on the "brink of a new generation of technology".

It may not be long until this new "family of devices" from the pair make an impact.

"The first one we've been working on I think has just completely captured our imagination," said Sir Jony.

Mr Altman said he has already tried out a prototype of a new device designed by Sir Jony and his team, and he thinks it is "the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen".

- Author: Graham Fraser, BBC