Apple's key leadership is gradually thinning out, and one of the first to kick-start this was Jony Ive, Apple's lead designer, who worked on the first iPhone and was instrumental in creating the iPad, among other products. Since leaving, Ive founded his own design firm, LoveFrom. However, last year, reports began surfacing that Ive was ?secretly' collaborating with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to create a new hardware-based product, and now, this has been confirmed by The New York Times. In fact, the report suggests that this project could attract around $1 billion in investment by the end of the year.

Jony Ive's ?Secret' Hardware Project With OpenAI

The New York Times reports that there are currently around 10 members working on the project, and the most intriguing part is that two of them, Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, were key figures who worked with Ive on the original iPhone. But, that doesn't confirm that it  is going to be a smartphone; that detail is still under wraps. 

Ive and the team are likely working on the project in San Francisco, but it's not yet clear what the device will be. However, it could be a touchscreen computing device, inspired by the iPhone, designed to handle complex tasks with the help of AI?tasks that traditional software supposedly cannot manage.

When Can You Expect It to Launch?

The report adds that LoveFrom's co-founder, Marc Newson, said it's uncertain when to expect the device, as the timeline is still under evaluation. That said, it may be a while before we even see a reveal. Over the past year or two, companies like Rabbit and Humane (also founded by ex-Apple leaders) have launched products with mixed market appeal, and considering the high expectations, it's certain that Jony Ive and OpenAI won't want to rush the project.

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