As OpenAI fights a trademark lawsuit over its now-scrubbed “io” brand, new public court filings are giving us the most detailed glimpse yet into what Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s hardware team have been up to behind the scenes.
‘Not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device’
As reported by The Verge and Bloomberg yesterday, the legal battle stems from a case brought by iyO, a Google-backed startup that argues the “io” branding from OpenAI’s newly formed io Products, Inc., is too close for comfort.
But the story doesn’t end there. As reported by News, a set of newly-made public documents show that OpenAI representatives, including Tang Tan, an ex-Apple executive who is now Chief Hardware Officer of io Procucts, met with iyO CEO, Jason Rugolo to “learn more about iyO’s in-ear product.” Internal emails, however, downplay the importance of the meetings as they show the team left unimpressed after multiple demo failures.
Interestingly, the new documents claim OpenAI has spent months studying in-ear devices and has thoroughly investigated the headphone market and audio devices in general.
Still, per Ten’s declaration to the court, their first future AI product “is not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device.”
He also added that the design, which Sam Altman previously described as something that “fits in your pocket or sits on your desk,” isn’t finalized and that the product is at least a year away from being announced or sold.
As for Altman, he also sent a declaration to the court, stating that “Our intent with this collaboration was, and is, to create products that go beyond traditional products and interfaces”.
Despite downplays, OpenAI has been looking a lot at in-ear ergonomics
While legal statements claim that io’s first product is “not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device,” emails from iyO reveal that OpenAI and io were particularly curious about one specific part of iyO’s tech: its 3D ear-scanning process.
To customize each earpiece, iyO sends technicians to scan users’ ears with precision equipment, a workflow that caught the attention of former Apple engineer Marwan Rammah, now part of io’s team. In an email to Tan, Rammah floated the idea of buying a database of ear scans from iyO’s vendor, calling it a “helpful starting point on ergonomics.”
For its part, iyO spent months trying to turn that interest into something bigger. Court documents show iyO’s CEO repeatedly pitched OpenAI on investing, partnering, or even acquiring iyO outright, for as much as $200 million. Tan ultimately declined.
Finally, in yet another statement to the court, Evans Hankey, another former Apple executive now leading design efforts at io, made one thing clear: “io has no current plans to offer a custom-molded earpiece product.”
What do you think OpenAI and Jony Ive’s team are working on? Let is know in the comments.
Update [11:39 p.m. ET]: The wording in this post has been adjusted to better reflect that OpenAI’s statements refer specifically to io’s first planned product. Thus, the word “first” was added in two segments.
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