Do Son 
OpenAI has announced the acquisition of the design startup “io,” co-founded by former Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive and former Vice President of Product Design Tang Tan, while reaffirming its ongoing collaboration with Jony Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom.
Although the official statement did not disclose the exact purchase amount or deal structure, sources cited by The New York Times suggest the acquisition is valued at approximately $6.5 billion.
As part of the transaction, key figures such as Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan—alongside roughly 50 engineers, designers, and researchers—will join the OpenAI team. They will work in close partnership with OpenAI staff to develop hardware devices designed for seamless interaction with OpenAI’s artificial intelligence technologies.
LoveFrom, meanwhile, will continue its collaboration with OpenAI while retaining the flexibility to engage in partnerships with other companies.
Earlier reports indicated that LoveFrom and OpenAI had been working together to envision a new category of hardware for the AI era—described as a revolutionary mobile device positioned as an AI-centric counterpart to the iPhone, emphasizing deep integration of artificial intelligence.
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