OpenAI to Acquire io in $6.4 Billion Deal

OpenAI is buying io, Jony Ive’s AI devices startup, for approximately $6.4 billion in an all-equity deal that includes its current stake in the company.

In a blog post on Wednesday from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive, the pair said that io was founded a year ago by Ive, along with Apple alumni Scott Cannon, Tang Tan, and Evans Hankey.

Ive is taking on “deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io,” OpenAI said in a statement. The company said that io is merging with OpenAI, while Ive and his “creative collective” called LoveFrom will stay independent.

“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,” the post said.

OpenAI said it’s paying $5 billion given that it already owns 23% of the company.

The purchase is OpenAI’s largest and comes weeks after the company agreed to buy AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for $3 billion. Prior to that, OpenAI acquired analytics database company Rockset for an undisclosed sum in 2024.

Ive announced in 2019 that he was leaving Apple, where he was the longtime chief design officer, to start LoveFrom.

LoveFrom was founded by Ive and designer Marc Newson, but it’s website doesn’t say anything about what the company does or include any mention of io.

For more information about this news, visit https://openai.com.