OpenAI’s debut piece of hardware is shaping up to be a portable, screen-free smart speaker built to sync with ChatGPT and run a range of AI services around the home.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the still-in-development device is being positioned internally as a “humanlike AI companion that lives in the home,” according to people familiar with the project who requested anonymity because it has not been publicly announced. The company has signalled for some time that it wants a foothold in physical products, with earlier speculation pointing to a possible OpenAI phone, a step that would set it against Apple on Apple’s own turf.
What has now surfaced sounds less like a conventional smart speaker and more like an attempt to give ChatGPT a body. Per Bloomberg’s sources, the device is meant to take on a “personality” and to gradually build a picture of its owner, using that familiarity to offer more tailored help over time. It would reach into a user’s digital life, drawing on things such as email, while a camera and additional sensors let it register what is happening around it and act before being prompted. The more familiar smart-speaker functions are there too, including control of connected home devices, media playback, general questions and message handling, all routed through the wider ChatGPT toolkit. Its voice capabilities are reportedly built on GPT-Live, the upgraded conversation mode OpenAI released earlier this month.
The stranger wrinkle sits in the hardware itself. The device is said to feature “mechanical elements that can move on their own,” which Bloomberg frames as a way to give the speaker a sense of presence and life rather than the ability to move around a room on its own. Actual portability comes from a rechargeable battery instead, the idea being that an owner carries it between rooms across the day. Pricing is reportedly expected to sit between $200 and $300, roughly where premium smart speakers already land.
The project carries a notable amount of Apple DNA. Bloomberg reports that many of the former Apple engineers who worked on products such as the iPhone and Mac helped develop the device, and design firm LoveFrom, co-founded by ex-Apple design chief Jony Ive, is shaping the broader hardware lineup. OpenAI moved decisively into hardware last year with a reported $6.5 billion acquisition of io Products, the startup Ive co-founded.
That heritage has become a legal exposure. Apple sued OpenAI last week over the alleged theft of trade secrets, describing the current claims as only “the tip of the iceberg” and signalling that more would emerge during discovery. The company is also pursuing an injunction that could complicate OpenAI’s hardware plans. OpenAI has denied any wrongdoing, with its sources contending that the product differs substantially from anything currently in Apple’s range, which in their view undercuts the trade-secret argument.
The speaker is reportedly one of around five hardware products in the pipeline, a lineup said to include wearables, home robotics and a potential smartphone alternative. OpenAI is aiming to show the device in the second half of this year and to ship it in 2027, though those timelines could move.
Source: Bloomberg
