Ex-Apple Designer Jony Ive Working on New Secret Project with OpenAI

Apple’s former celebrity designer Jony Ive confirmed to be working on a new AI startup with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in a profile interview for the New York Times. The project involves a new device—expected to be “less socially disruptive than the iPhone”—but its name or release date remains a secret.

Ive quit his full-time position at Apple 5 years ago, after 27 years—he joined Apple’s design team in 1992— to create his own design company, LoveFrom, for which he has only publicly shared a simple website featuring just the company name.

“For five years, I haven’t talked to anybody about what we’re doing,” said Ive to the New York Times in June, and confirmed that he agreed to work on an AI project with Altman after meeting him last year.

The designer did not provide a name for the new company or too many details of the project—first reported by TechCrunch in 2023—, but shared some relevant information on what they are building.

He and Altman “talked about how generative A.I. made it possible to create a new computing device because the technology could do more for users than traditional software since it could summarize and prioritize messages, identify and name objects like plants and eventually field complex requests like booking travel.”

After multiple meetings with Altman, LoveForm is now leading the design team of the new secret device which already has private investment, and founders expect to reach $1 billion by the end of the year after reaching out to more tech investors.

Ive has shown the headquarters of the new secret company in San Francisco, next to one of his properties and current LoveFrom studio. The new office space cost $60 million, and the company already has 10 employees, including former Apple designers Evans Hankey and Tang Tan.