Jony Ive to take expansive role at OpenAI after startup acquired, WSJ reports

OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, have been collaborating for two years on a new device that will move consumers beyond screens, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journals’ Keach Hagey and Berber Jin. Ive left Apple in 2019 to found LoveFrom, a design firm, and he also leads io, a company founded last year to design and develop a new family of AI-powered products. Now, OpenAI will acquire io in an all-equity deal that values it at $6.5B. OpenAI acquired a 23% stake in io late last year, people familiar with the matter said, the Journal noted. Ive, a chief architect of the iPhone, and his design firm are taking over creative and design control at OpenAI, where they will develop consumer devices and other projects, the Journal noted. Shares of Apple (AAPL) are lower in afternoon trading following reports of the deal and Ive’s new role at Open AI.