Every now and again, innovators share a behind-the-scenes look at their work. Sometimes these breadcrumbs lead us down a dead end; sometimes, however, they lead us down a path of transformation and revolution, a permanent path that forever changes the way we live, work, and play. Jony Ive’s track record of designing transformative technologies is second to none: Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, among others.
So, while his work at OpenAI may or may not yield results in line with his track record, it’s worth taking a look behind the scenes to decipher what the future may hold. Here, I will break down the letter Sam Altman and Jony Ive wrote to introduce their work to the world, starting with the title and the lead image:
Sam & Jony introduce io
Everything about this would make Steve Jobs smile. His work with Jony Ive was rooted in long, contemplative walks and deep collaboration. This letter and this photo are reminiscent of that relationship and many of the press shots Steve and Jony once took — in black and white with high contrast and soft features. Ive is once again playing the role of lead creative, designer, and philosopher, and Sam Altman is fulfilling a dream, assuming the role of Steve, the preeminent technologist during Sam’s formative years.
Steve would be thrilled to see Jony taking on new, important work, now as a mentor of one of the world’s most promising entrepreneurs. And I think Jobs would even give a wry smile at Jony’s rebellious move to do it outside of Apple.
This is an extraordinary moment.
The most ambitious minds in tech are going all in on AI. Altman in particular is making a habit of topping only himself with one announcement after another that grows in size and scale — again reminiscent of Steve Jobs during his most prolific periods. Ive recognizes this pattern and is seizing the moment to do something massive in the AI field before it’s too late.
Computers are now seeing, thinking and understanding.
Despite this unprecedented capability, our experience remains shaped by traditional products and interfaces.
Artificial intelligence is better understood in the context of human intelligence and, eventually, superhuman intelligence. AI is now approaching human levels of understanding and capabilities, using core human senses like vision, hearing, thought and understanding. But today’s “traditional products and interfaces” (computers and smartphones) don’t fully leverage those new capabilities. Given their form factors, computers are stuck on desktops and smartphones are stuck in our pockets, making it hard for these devices to see and hear and understand like we humans do. Sam and Jony believe they can create something that sits next to — and eventually moves us beyond — the computer and the smartphone, to more fully unlock the AI’s capabilities.
Notably, these “traditional products and interfaces” are also stuck on platforms like iOS and Android that carefully control what third parties are capable of doing on those devices. Apparently, Sam and Jony also believe they can navigate the restrictions of today’s dominant computing platforms to build something that hundreds of millions of iOS and Android users can integrate into their lives.
For those wondering what this family of devices will look like, this is the money section. Based on their critique of “traditional products and interfaces,” and based on their joint interview with Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, plus reporting on an internal meeting at OpenAI by the WSJ, it seems to be a screen-free “companion” device that sits next to a Mac and an iPhone to run ChatGPT in a more natural and contextually-aware way. The details here are important, and we’ll learn more next year.
Two years ago, Jony Ive and the creative collective LoveFrom, quietly began collaborating with Sam Altman and the team at OpenAI.
A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition. Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs.
What’s new to us is not new to Altman, Ive and their teams. They have been dreaming and working together for two years, roughly the timeframe that any deep, trust-based relationship takes to build. And I don’t think that’s a trivial piece here. If this duo is able to create something transformational, I think it starts with shared values deeply held — and placing the right bets. Here again, we see echoes of the relationship Ive enjoyed with Steve Jobs, and a possible foreshadowing of what those types of relationships can produce.
The ideas seemed important and useful. They were optimistic and hopeful. They were inspiring. They made everyone smile. They reminded us of a time when we celebrated human achievement, grateful for new tools that helped us learn, explore and create.
It’s hard not to read this as a reaction to the ill effects the smartphone has had on society. For context, I’d offer another quote from a recent interview with Jony Ive, “Certain products that I’ve been very, very involved with, I think there were some unintended consequences that were far from pleasant.” Here, Sam and Jony are glorifying the early days of the computer and the smartphone, before those unintended consequences, like widespread screen addiction, kicked in.
This seems like a driving force for Jony Ive in particular. His goal with this work is less about the next flashy device and more about undoing some of what he did when he designed the smartphone.
It became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company. And so, one year ago, Jony founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan.
We gathered together the best hardware and software engineers, the best technologists, physicists, scientists, researchers and experts in product development and manufacturing. Many of us have worked closely for decades.
The team from io is nothing less than the top shelf of Apple’s design talent. And they seem motivated to not just reprise their previous work, but surpass it and leave a legacy distinct from the iPhone. What’s Apple’s loss is OpenAI’s gain. Jony Ive, Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan are the best of the best, plus they enjoy a longstanding culture that they bring with them to OpenAI.
The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco.
As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io.
In 2015, Apple promoted Jony Ive to Chief Design Officer, one of three C-level executives at Apple at the time. Then in 2017 Ive resumed direct control of the product design team. He left Apple in 2019 to form LoveFrom a design collective, with Apple as a client, but their partnership never seemed to amount to anything.
That history is relevant because Jony Ive has not worked with a visionary collaborator since Steve Jobs died in 2011. Now, Jony Ive has both the creative freedom and the “spiritual partner” that he once had at Apple.
We could not possibly be more excited.
This is genuine. I think Jony Ive and Sam Altman both see the potential to build a trillion-dollar company with billions of users and reshape human history. I’m excited, too.
The letter also included a few quotes. Let’s break those down, too:
“AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world. No one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.” – Sam Altman
Altman’s first quote is yet another nod to Steve Jobs. At the March 2011 unveiling of the iPad Steve closed with this:
“It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.” – Steve Jobs
“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment. While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration. The values and vision of Sam and the teams at OpenAI and io are a rare inspiration.” – Jony Ive
In the accompanying video, Altman quoted Jony Ive saying that their first product is “the best work our team has ever done.” That’s saying a lot. Only time will tell.