OpenAI’s secretive AI device designed by Jony Ive beset by critical problems that could delay release

Jony Ive (left) and Sam Altman
OpenAI and renowned designer Jony Ive are tackling multiple technical challenges with their secretive AI device, aiming for a major product launch next year. The San Francisco-based startup, led by Sam Altman, acquired Ive’s design firm, io, for $6.5 billion in May, but the duo has revealed little about their ongoing projects.
Tim Bradshaw, Cristina Criddle, Michael Acton, and Ryan McMorrow for Financial Times:
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Their aim is to create a palm-sized device without a screen that can take audio and visual cues from the physical environment and respond to users’ requests.
People familiar with their plans said OpenAI and Ive had yet to solve critical problems that could delay the device’s release… [O]bstacles remain in the device’s software and the infrastructure needed to power it.
These include deciding on the assistant’s “personality”, privacy issues and budgeting for the computing power needed to run OpenAI’s models on a mass consumer device.
“Compute is another huge factor for the delay,” said one person close to Ive. “Amazon has the compute for an Alexa, so does Google [for its Home device], but OpenAI is struggling to get enough compute for ChatGPT, let alone an AI device — they need to fix that first.”
Multiple people familiar with the plans said OpenAI and Ive were working on a device roughly the size of a smartphone that users would communicate with through a camera, microphone and speaker. One person suggested it might have multiple cameras.
The gadget is designed to sit on a desk or table but can also be carried around by the user… One person said the device would be “always on” rather than triggered by a word or prompt. The device’s sensors would gather data throughout the day that would help to build its virtual assistant’s “memory”.
The goal is to improve the “smart speakers” of the past decade, such as Amazon’s Echo speaker and its Alexa digital assistant, which are generally used for a limited set of functions such as listening to music and setting kitchen timers.
OpenAI and Ive are seeking to build a more powerful and useful machine.

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MacDailyNews Take: As we just asked earlier today, “The question is how does a “pocket-sized AI device” differ from the already pocket-sized iPhone and its Android knockoffs. The iPhone already has everything needed – microphones, cameras, fast processors, display, speakers, connectivity, etc. Why carry a “pocket-sized AI device” when you already carry a smartphone that could, via settings, be set up to match whatever the “pocket-sized AI device” offers (always listening, etc.) and exceed it (on-device LLMs, etc.)?”

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