OpenAI's first consumer device is a screenless smart speaker with motorized moving parts, designed to feel like a living companion rather than a home appliance, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported. The product, still in development, is meant to be a new type of home computer for the AI era.
The speaker lacks a display but includes a camera and sensors for processing its surroundings. It has a rechargeable battery so users can carry it room to room. OpenAI envisions it moving from the laundry room to the kitchen for cooking help to the bedroom for music, or staying plugged in one spot. Its defining feature is personality. The device incorporates mechanical elements that move on their own, creating the sense that it is alive.
OpenAI wants it to feel like a companion and become a physical manifestation of ChatGPT, sources told Bloomberg. The speaker draws on personal information such as emails to understand its owner better. It can anticipate needs, surface information proactively, and act as an expert on its user.
Communication relies on GPT-Live, an advanced version of ChatGPT Voice Mode that OpenAI rolled out this month. The new voice mode can listen and talk simultaneously and adapt naturally during conversations.
OpenAI spent $6.5 billion last year to acquire io Products, a startup co-founded by Apple design veteran Jony Ive. Ive's studio LoveFrom is helping craft the device, alongside former Apple designers and engineers who worked on the iPhone and Mac.
Evans Hankey, Apple's former head of industrial design, is leading development. OpenAI has hired more than 400 people from Apple.
The device is the first of roughly five hardware products OpenAI is developing. The company aims to unveil it this year and release it in 2027.
Apple sued OpenAI last week, accusing the company of stealing trade secrets to accelerate device development. The lawsuit specifically names OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan, the former head of iPhone product design at Apple, accusing him of leading efforts to obtain confidential information about Apple's future products.
Apple called the allegations "the tip of the iceberg" and said more misconduct would emerge during discovery. It is seeking an injunction that could delay or block OpenAI from selling devices.
OpenAI denies the claims. The company believes the speaker veers significantly from anything Apple has on the market and is unlikely to violate trade secrets, people familiar with the matter said. OpenAI told Bloomberg it has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets" and is not aware of evidence that Apple's complaint has merit.
OpenAI internally describes the device as the first computer purpose-built for AI. It carries advanced models beyond those available on conventional smart speakers from Amazon, Google, or Apple. The company does not see the HomePod or HomePod mini as comparable.
Shares of Sonos fell more than 10% in late trading after the report, before paring losses. Apple dropped less than 1%.
Apple is preparing its own AI-focused home devices, including a smart-home command center with a 7-inch display and a version mounted on a robotic arm. That intensifies the competitive stakes between the two companies. For OpenAI, the speaker represents a critical step as it prepares for an initial public offering.
The company is also exploring a mobile AI device capable of replacing the smartphone, wearable products including a pendant, and home robotics. But the first product has to ship first.
