
What happened
OpenAI is developing a donut-shaped AI smart speaker priced between $300 and $400, designed to be carried around the home and placed on surfaces like bedside tables or kitchen counters. The device, built from high-quality metal with moving parts, is being developed in partnership with LoveFrom, the design studio founded by former Apple developer Jony Ive, and is expected to release sometime in 2027.
Why it matters
Smart speakers have not historically been profitable, and OpenAI's premium price point—significantly higher than Amazon's smart speakers, which range from $40 to $240—makes entering this competitive market a risky bet. The device represents OpenAI's broader strategy to deepen ChatGPT's integration into users' daily lives through hardware.
What to watch
OpenAI faces a legal challenge from Apple, which has sued the company for allegedly stealing trade secrets (OpenAI denies wrongdoing). The 2027 release window and the unspecified function of the device's moving parts remain key unknowns.
Summaries like this, in your inbox every morning.
OpenAI's move into hardware represents a calculated expansion beyond software. The partnership with Jony Ive's LoveFrom signals the company's intention to create a premium, design-led product rather than a commodity device—a bet that premium positioning and integration with ChatGPT will justify a price point two to four times higher than most competing smart speakers. The donut shape and portability reflect a product philosophy centered on everyday integration, allowing users to move the speaker from room to room.
The timing and economics pose significant headwinds. Historically, smart speakers have struggled to achieve profitability despite mass adoption, and the article notes that OpenAI's higher price point may compound this challenge. Complicating the picture is an ongoing legal dispute with Apple, which has accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets; OpenAI has denied the allegation. The resolution of this litigation could affect both the device's development timeline and its market reception.
For example, today's edition would include:
AI-summarized, only the topics you pick: one digest a day via Email, LINE, or Slack.
Free · 30 seconds with Google · unsubscribe anytimeWhat is AIToday? →
Ask AI anything about this article. The AI reads this article, earlier AIToday articles, and Wikipedia, and cites its sources. Q&As are published on this page for other readers too.
Kalkine Media reports that Home Depot (NYSE:HD) is introducing an AI assistant for its retail operations

AMD said Monday it agreed to acquire World Labs, Fei-Fei Li's San Francisco AI lab, for about $8.2 billion in…

Bank of America announced Payments Insights, a new CashPro capability that analyzes payment efficiency, cross-…

Dell's AI server backlog rose to $95 billion after a record $60.9 billion in AI server orders in fiscal Q2, wi…

Baird said agentic AI will drive Micron to new heights, per a CNBC report

A Seeking Alpha analyst published a bullish piece titled "Lam Research: A Key AI Infrastructure Player With Gr…
