In May 2025, OpenAI announced the acquisition of a startup founded by former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive, focused on developing AI-powered devices. Around the same time, Sam Altman presented employees with an early preview of the gadget he is developing together with Ive and shared plans to release up to 100 million “AI companions.” Altman believes these devices could become part of everyday life.
The new product is designed to fully understand a user’s surroundings and daily context. It is intended to be unobtrusive, able to sit in a pocket or on a desk, and to become a “third core device,” alongside a MacBook Pro and an iPhone.
It will not be a phone, glasses, or a wearable. Ive and Altman aim to move people away from screens altogether, describing the concept as part of a “new design movement.”
OpenAI’s CEO has emphasized that this will not be a single product, but an entire “line of devices,” comparing the vision to Apple’s broader ecosystem approach.
Lehane called the device one of OpenAI’s flagship launches for 2026, though it remains unclear whether it will actually go on sale that year.
In January, an insider known as Smart Pikachu claimed that OpenAI is preparing a potential “AirPods replacement.” The internal codename is reportedly Sweetpea. The device would feature an egg-shaped case with two “capsules” worn behind the ears. It is said to run on a smartphone-class processor, with high component and manufacturing costs, but correspondingly strong performance.
According to the blogger, a presentation is planned for September 2026, with projected first-year sales of 40–50 million units. Smart Pikachu also added that Foxconn is expected to prepare “five devices for mass production” by the fourth quarter of 2028.
In October 2025, the Financial Times reported that OpenAI was working on a screenless, palm-sized device that “receives audio and visual signals and responds to user queries.” This could potentially be a smart speaker–like product.
Other plans for 2026
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar outlined the company’s 2026 roadmap in a blog post, describing the year as a phase of “practical deployment.”
“The top priority is closing the gap between what AI can do today and how people, businesses, and countries actually use it in everyday life,” she wrote.
Friar noted that many capabilities are already available, particularly in healthcare, science, and entrepreneurship. She also described OpenAI’s approach to monetization alongside the need to scale computing infrastructure, stressing that the company’s revenue growth is directly tied to available compute capacity.
OpenAI’s computing power expanded from 0.2 GW in 2023 to 1.9 GW in 2025. Over the same period, annual revenue grew from $2 billion to more than $20 billion.
“This is unprecedented growth. We strongly believe that greater compute availability would have driven even faster adoption and monetization,” Friar said.
The technology sector, and OpenAI in particular, remains under close scrutiny due to massive investments in data centers and energy infrastructure. Critics argue that a bubble may be forming, as OpenAI remains unprofitable despite its rapidly rising revenue.
“Securing compute capacity requires commitments made years in advance, and growth does not follow a perfectly smooth curve,” Friar added, emphasizing that OpenAI’s business model must scale alongside its products.
Advertising and scaling
On January 16, OpenAI announced that it will begin testing advertising in the free ChatGPT tier and the low-cost Go plan in the coming weeks.
The company stated that:
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responses will not be influenced by commercial content;
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ads will always be clearly labeled and displayed separately;
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user conversations will not be accessible to advertisers.
There will be no advertising in the Plus, Pro, Business, or Enterprise plans. Altman added that he will try to ensure that sponsored messages, where present, are genuinely useful.
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