OpenAI buys Jony Ive's design startup for $6.5 billion
OpenAI is buying Jony Ive's startup, io, for $6.5 billion, as first reported by The New York Times. The company confirmed the news in a blog post on its website headlined by the photo you see above, which is apparently real and not AI generated. As part of the deal, Ive and his design studio, LoveForm, will continue to work independently of OpenAI. However, Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan, who co-founded io with Ive, will become OpenAI employees.
OpenAI has not disclosed whether the deal would be paid for in cash or stock. Per the Wall Street Journal, it's an all-equity deal. Open AI has yet to turn a profit. Moreover, according to reporting from The Information, OpenAI agreed to share 20 percent of its revenue with Microsoft until 2030 in return for the more than $13 billion the tech giant has invested into it. When asked about how it would finance the acquisition, Altman told The Times the press worries about OpenAI's funding and revenue more than the company itself. "We'll be fine," he said. "Thanks for the concern."
In an interview with The Times, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive, best known for his design work on the iPhone, said the goal of the partnership is to create "amazing products that elevate humanity." Before today, Altman was an investor in Humane, the startup behind the failed Humane AI Pin. HP bought the company earlier this year for $116 million, far less than the $1 billion Humane had reportedly sought before the sale.
"The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco," OpenAI writes of the acquisition on its website. "As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io."
Developing...This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-buys-jony-ives-design-startup-for-65-billion-173356962.html?src=rss
