Sam Altman calls the iPhone the “crowning achievement” as OpenAI readies calming, screenless AI device

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has offered fresh hints about the company’s first hardware device, created in partnership with Jony Ive. Speaking at Emerson Collective’s Demo Day in San Francisco, Altman said he believes many people will be surprised by how understated it is. “When people see it, they say, ‘that’s it? It’s so simple’,” he said, suggesting a conscious step away from the screen-heavy direction the industry has taken.

The unnamed device has been described as pocket-sized and screenless, and is now in prototype form. It follows OpenAI’s acquisition of Ive’s design firm, io, earlier this year, signalling a push to bring AI into a physical form factor rather than keeping it locked to phones and laptops.

Altman repeatedly returned to one comparison: the iPhone. He called Apple’s smartphone “the crowning achievement of consumer products” and said he could divide his life into the time before the iPhone and after it. But despite that admiration, his argument is that modern tech has lost its way. Using today’s devices, he said, feels like walking through Times Square, bombarded by lights, noise and constant disruptions.

Bright notifications, dopamine-fuelled apps and relentless interruptions are, in his view, symptoms of tech that no longer serves its users. “I don’t think it’s making any of our lives peaceful and calm and just letting us focus on our stuff,” he said.

In contrast, Altman described the vibe of OpenAI’s upcoming device as more like sitting in a quiet lakeside cabin. The goal is not to pull users in but to thoughtfully filter information, handle tasks on their behalf and know when to step forward or stay out of the way. He emphasised long-term trust, suggesting the device will build a deep contextual understanding of its owner’s life.

Jony Ive echoed this philosophy. He said he is drawn to solutions that appear almost naive because of their simplicity, yet able to offer sophisticated intelligence beneath the surface. Great products, he argued, should feel unintimidating and natural to use. “You want to touch them, and you want to use them almost carelessly,” he said.

While the specifics of the device remain off limits, Ive confirmed it should arrive within two years. For now, OpenAI appears to be positioning its first piece of hardware as the opposite of today’s noisy tech: a calming companion rather than another glowing rectangle fighting for attention.