Altman and the iPhone creator's mysterious AI device hits a bottleneck: Computing power and personality design become the biggest challenges.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Apple chief designer, "Father of the iPhone" Jony Ive, are trying to create an artificial intelligence device that will "reshape human-computer interaction," but the ambitious project is currently mired in multiple bottlenecks.

On October 5, the UK’s Financial Times quoted informed sources as saying that the "screenless AI device," originally planned for release next year, has run into obstacles due to a shortage of computing power, software bottlenecks, and difficulty defining the "AI personality."

A person close to Ive said: "Computing power is another major factor causing delays. Amazon has the computing power needed for Alexa, and Google does too (for its Home devices), but OpenAI is still struggling to provide enough power just for ChatGPT—let alone an AI device. They need to solve this first."

Hardware specs start to take shape

In May of this year, OpenAI acquired io, a subsidiary of LoveFrom (the design company founded by Ive), for $6.5 billion, marking the formal collaboration between this AI pioneer and design master.

It is reported that the two hope to create a palm-sized, screenless device that can perceive the world through cameras and microphones and communicate with people in natural language—a sort of "next-generation AI companion."

This device is said to be "always online," continuously collecting the user's visual and auditory information and building a personalized "AI memory." It can be placed on a table or carried around, aiming to surpass Echo or Siri-style "voice assistants" and become a true "AI friend" that understands the user.

According to a previous article by JIANWEN, OpenAI has reached a hardware manufacturing agreement with Chinese consumer electronics giant Luxshare Precision, and plans to launch its first AI device product at the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027.

Computing power shortage; AI "personality" hard to define

The report quotes sources saying that one of the biggest challenges for the project is computing power. Unlike Amazon (Alexa) and Google (Home), which have vast cloud computing resources, OpenAI is still struggling to meet the computing demand for ChatGPT, let alone support an "always-on" consumer AI device.

"Computing power is one of the main reasons for the delay," said a person close to Ive. "Without sufficient computational infrastructure, no device can be discussed."

Besides computing power, another challenge is how to define the AI’s "personality." The OpenAI team hopes that this AI assistant can be as naturally friendly as a friend, but without seeming "weird" or "too intrusive."

"We don't want it to turn into your 'weird AI girlfriend,'" joked one source. "It should be like Siri, but smarter and warmer."

But how to strike the balance between being "smart" and "quiet" is difficult. If the AI talks too much, it becomes annoying; if it's too cold, it gets boring. As one participant put it: "The personality of the model is the hardest part to balance—for it can’t be too flattering, nor too blunt. It should be helpful, but not stuck in self-looping."

Past lessons: "AI disappointment" from Humane and Friend

The OpenAI and Ive project is not the first of its kind. Over the past year, several companies have tried to create "AI companion" devices, but most have failed.

The AI pin by Humane, a company invested in by Altman, was met with a cold market response due to performance and interaction issues; another device called Friend was criticized as "creepy" because it was "too talkative" and had a "weird personality."

These failures have made OpenAI more cautious: How to keep the AI "always online" without becoming "annoying" is now the core issue.

Despite all the difficulties, Altman’s hardware dream remains undeterred. OpenAI’s valuation this year has soared to $500 billion, surpassing Elon Musk’s SpaceX. To match this valuation, Altman needs to prove that OpenAI can go beyond being just a "software company" and build a complete AI ecosystem.

OpenAI has not only been recruiting former Apple hardware talent at scale, but has also hired multiple engineers from Meta’s VR and smart glasses teams. Industry insiders believe that these moves show Altman is trying to recreate Apple’s "integrated hardware and software" approach.

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