{"id":2043866,"date":"2026-07-15T00:12:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2043866"},"modified":"2026-07-15T00:12:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:12:58","slug":"the-openai-mystery-device-will-reportedly-be-basically-just-a-smart-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2043866","title":{"rendered":"The OpenAI Mystery Device Will Reportedly Be Basically Just a Smart Speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/OpenAI-AI-device-phone-1200×675.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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According to an anonymously sourced report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, the much hyped and frequently mocked physical doohickey coming soon from OpenAI will be\u2026 a smart speaker that moves.<\/p>\n

In April, another major source of Apple rumors, Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst at TF International Securities described something in a different category when he said OpenAI was releasing an \u201cAI agent phone.\u201d One (or both) of these rumors could be wrong, or this could be a different device, or\u2014and in my view this is equally likely\u2014the thing OpenAI is making could split the difference between being a phone and being a smart speaker.<\/p>\n

After all, what\u2019s in the Bloomberg article doesn\u2019t sound entirely stale and uncreative. It will apparently be portable, battery-powered, and small enough to be easy to move from one room to another\u2014like a baby monitor or 90s cordless phone perhaps. But it will also be capable of controlling the smart appliances in your house, screenless, and chatbot-powered, like a smart speaker.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s this curveball: it will reportedly have mechanical components that allow it to move<\/i> in some way or another, giving the impression that it is \u201calive.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that part about moving sounds harebrained to you, what if I said it sounds oddly like something Apple has been working on for the past few years?<\/p>\n

There are reportedly three prototype home devices that have been floating around Cupertino for a while: two Siri-powered smart speakers, meant to introduce a new and more sophisticated Apple HomePod ecosystem, along with a third that is also a little robot that moves around your tabletop. <\/i><\/p>\n

Last week, Apple sued OpenAI for misappropriating its trade secrets, alleging a scheme involving the poaching of talent from Apple, including mechanical engineer Tang Tan. OpenAI says in response, \u201cWe have no interest in other companies\u2019 trade secrets,\u201d according to\u00a0 <\/span>spokesperson Drew Pusateri, who adds, \u201cWe remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s worth keeping in mind that other rumors about the Apple home robot device have made it seem like more of an iPad-like device with robotic swiveling action, and not at all like a smart speaker.<\/p>\n

The smart speaker device is apparently the culmination of OpenAI\u2019s relationship with former Apple design legend Jony Ive, and the $6.4 billion acquisition of Ive\u2019s hardware design company io.<\/p>\n

As far as what might make the OpenAI device at least ostensibly special and unique, Bloomberg\u2019s source claims that it\u2019s supposed to be a companion that gets \u201cincreasingly personalized and proactive as it gains a deeper understanding of its owner over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It needs to live up to every part of that claim and more, because it would not be an exaggeration to say it is the most hyperbolically hyped-up device since the Segway scooter in 2001.<\/p>\n

Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have sounded downright creepily obsessed with this thing since the slickly produced video announcement of their friendship (What, you don\u2019t do this when you make a friend?) released in March of last year.<\/p>\n

In November, Altman recounted Ive saying \u201c\u2018We\u2019ll know we\u2019ll have the design right when you want to lick it or take a bite out of it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0Altman then claimed that \u201cThere was an earlier prototype that we were like quite excited about, but I did not have any feeling of like \u2018I want to pick up that thing and take a bite out of it.\u201d He then added, \u201cBut finally we got there all of a sudden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altman has also said the device will be \u201cthe coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.\u201d\u00a0And Bloomberg says it will be a smart speaker, so I guess we\u2019ll soon see who\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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According to an anonymously sourced report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, the much hyped and frequently mocked physical doohickey coming soon from OpenAI will be\u2026 a smart speaker that moves.<\/p>\n

In April, another major source of Apple rumors, Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst at TF International Securities described something in a different category when he said OpenAI was releasing an \u201cAI agent phone.\u201d One (or both) of these rumors could be wrong, or this could be a different device, or\u2014and in my view this is equally likely\u2014the thing OpenAI is making could split the difference between being a phone and being a smart speaker.<\/p>\n

After all, what\u2019s in the Bloomberg article doesn\u2019t sound entirely stale and uncreative. It will apparently be portable, battery-powered, and small enough to be easy to move from one room to another\u2014like a baby monitor or 90s cordless phone perhaps. But it will also be capable of controlling the smart appliances in your house, screenless, and chatbot-powered, like a smart speaker.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s this curveball: it will reportedly have mechanical components that allow it to move<\/i> in some way or another, giving the impression that it is \u201calive.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that part about moving sounds harebrained to you, what if I said it sounds oddly like something Apple has been working on for the past few years?<\/p>\n

There are reportedly three prototype home devices that have been floating around Cupertino for a while: two Siri-powered smart speakers, meant to introduce a new and more sophisticated Apple HomePod ecosystem, along with a third that is also a little robot that moves around your tabletop. <\/i><\/p>\n

Last week, Apple sued OpenAI for misappropriating its trade secrets, alleging a scheme involving the poaching of talent from Apple, including mechanical engineer Tang Tan. OpenAI says in response, \u201cWe have no interest in other companies\u2019 trade secrets,\u201d according to\u00a0 <\/span>spokesperson Drew Pusateri, who adds, \u201cWe remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s worth keeping in mind that other rumors about the Apple home robot device have made it seem like more of an iPad-like device with robotic swiveling action, and not at all like a smart speaker.<\/p>\n

The smart speaker device is apparently the culmination of OpenAI\u2019s relationship with former Apple design legend Jony Ive, and the $6.4 billion acquisition of Ive\u2019s hardware design company io.<\/p>\n

As far as what might make the OpenAI device at least ostensibly special and unique, Bloomberg\u2019s source claims that it\u2019s supposed to be a companion that gets \u201cincreasingly personalized and proactive as it gains a deeper understanding of its owner over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It needs to live up to every part of that claim and more, because it would not be an exaggeration to say it is the most hyperbolically hyped-up device since the Segway scooter in 2001.<\/p>\n

Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have sounded downright creepily obsessed with this thing since the slickly produced video announcement of their friendship (What, you don\u2019t do this when you make a friend?) released in March of last year.<\/p>\n

In November, Altman recounted Ive saying \u201c\u2018We\u2019ll know we\u2019ll have the design right when you want to lick it or take a bite out of it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0Altman then claimed that \u201cThere was an earlier prototype that we were like quite excited about, but I did not have any feeling of like \u2018I want to pick up that thing and take a bite out of it.\u201d He then added, \u201cBut finally we got there all of a sudden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altman has also said the device will be \u201cthe coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.\u201d\u00a0And Bloomberg says it will be a smart speaker, so I guess we\u2019ll soon see who\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/the-openai-mystery-device-will-reportedly-be-basically-just-a-smart-speaker-2000785660″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/OpenAI-AI-device-phone-1200×675.jpg”] According to an anonymously sourced report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, the much hyped and frequently mocked physical doohickey coming soon from OpenAI will be\u2026 a smart speaker that moves. In April, another major source of Apple rumors, Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst at TF International Securities described something in a different category when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,53],"class_list":["post-2043866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-gizmodo-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2043866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043866\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2043866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2043866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2043866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}