OpenAI is getting ready to step into hardware, and its first device sounds very different from the usual smart speaker.
The company is reportedly working on a small, doughnut-shaped device roughly the size of a hockey puck. It won’t have a screen, will be battery-powered and is expected to cost somewhere between $300 and $400.
The planned launch is 2027, but the bigger story is what OpenAI wants this device to become.
A smart speaker, but with a much bigger ambition
At first glance, the product sounds familiar. Think smart speaker, microphones, speakers and voice commands.
But OpenAI isn’t positioning it as another device that simply answers questions, plays music or controls smart-home gadgets.
The company reportedly sees it as an AI-first computer that can help people actually get things done.
The idea is to have something you can keep nearby and interact with throughout the day, much like ChatGPT’s voice mode on a phone, but with more advanced models and a deeper understanding of the user.
OpenAI wants the experience to feel more natural and personal over time.
What stands out:
Doughnut-shaped design roughly the size of a hockey puck
Microphones and speakers for continuous voice interaction
Lights that indicate when the device is listening
Cameras and sensors to understand its surroundings
Battery-powered, so it can move around the home with you
Moving parts designed to make the device feel more alive
Expected price of $300 to $400
Planned availability in 2027
Why the design matters
OpenAI appears to be thinking beyond the traditional stationary smart speaker.
The device is reportedly designed to work whether it’s sitting on a kitchen counter, resting on a nightstand or being carried in your hand.
Even its moving parts have a purpose.
Instead of relying only on a voice to tell you that it is responding, the device could physically move to make interactions feel more expressive.
That may sound like a small design choice, but it reflects a bigger ambition: OpenAI wants the device to feel less like a piece of electronics and more like an AI companion.
Lights would also show when it is listening, while cameras and other sensors could help the AI understand what is happening around it.
OpenAI wants AI to live with you
The most interesting part may be how the device is expected to learn from repeated interactions.
OpenAI reportedly wants people to use it throughout the day, allowing the system to understand their preferences and tailor conversations over time.
That could make the experience more useful than simply opening an app and asking ChatGPT a question.
Imagine having an AI that already knows the context of what you’re doing, remembers previous conversations and can help you complete tasks without requiring you to constantly pick up your phone.
That is the direction OpenAI appears to be pursuing.
And it could eventually become much bigger than this first speaker.
The bigger bet: replacing the smartphone
OpenAI’s hardware ambitions reportedly extend beyond this first product.
The company wants to build a family of AI devices, with the longer-term goal of creating something that could eventually replace the smartphone.
That is a huge ambition.
The first product is therefore less about creating the perfect smart speaker and more about establishing a new way for people to interact with AI.
If OpenAI gets this right, the device could become another interface for ChatGPT that sits outside the traditional screen-based world.
Jony Ive is involved
The hardware is being designed in collaboration with Jony Ive’s LoveFrom studio.
Ive is one of the most influential names in consumer technology design, having shaped products including the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch during his time at Apple.
OpenAI acquired Ive’s device startup last year, bringing that design expertise into its hardware ambitions.
The new device is expected to have a premium look, including high-quality metal materials.
That also helps explain the expected $300 to $400 price tag.
It would put the device well above many traditional smart speakers, although still below the price of a typical iPhone.
And then there’s Apple
There is another reason this hardware launch is attracting attention.
OpenAI and Apple are already involved in a legal fight over intellectual property.
Apple has accused OpenAI of misusing its trade secrets and has raised concerns around a metal-finishing technique allegedly connected to an Apple supplier.
OpenAI denies the allegations and has argued that Apple’s claims are vague and speculative.
The company has also said its new hardware is fundamentally different from anything Apple currently makes.
There is an important distinction here.
The reported doughnut-shaped device does not resemble an existing Apple product, and Apple has not released a battery-powered, AI-focused home speaker of this kind.
However, Apple’s request for an injunction could still create complications for OpenAI’s hardware plans if the court grants it.
For now, OpenAI appears to be continuing development at full speed.
Privacy could be the real test
There is one major question that goes beyond design and price: how comfortable will people be having an AI device listening and watching around them all day?
The product is expected to have microphones, cameras, sensors and lights that indicate when it is listening.
That could make the device incredibly useful, but it also raises obvious privacy concerns.
OpenAI is reportedly aware of the sensitivity around always-on AI hardware. Other products such as smart glasses have already faced questions about how comfortable people are with cameras and microphones being present in everyday situations.
For OpenAI, building trust may be just as important as building the technology.
Is $300 to $400 too much?
This could be another major hurdle.
Consumers already have access to smart speakers from Amazon and Google at much lower prices.
So OpenAI will need to convince people that this is not simply an expensive smart speaker with ChatGPT built in.
The value proposition has to be different.
If the device can genuinely help users manage tasks, remember context, understand their surroundings and interact naturally throughout the day, the premium price could make more sense.
But if it mostly answers questions and plays music, paying several hundred dollars for it could be a much harder sell.
The real question is whether we need another screen
Perhaps the most interesting thing about OpenAI’s first device is what it leaves out.
There is no display.
At a time when almost every major piece of technology is built around a screen, OpenAI is betting that AI can make a device useful without one.
You wouldn’t necessarily need to open an app, tap through menus or stare at a screen.
You would simply talk to it.
That sounds simple, but if OpenAI can make the interaction fast, reliable and genuinely helpful, it could change how people think about personal computing.
The company is essentially betting that the next major computing interface may not be another screen.
It could be AI itself.
What do you think?
OpenAI’s first hardware product is shaping up to be a pretty ambitious entry into consumer technology.
A $300 to $400 AI-first device, designed with Jony Ive, equipped with cameras and sensors, built to learn from you and potentially become part of your daily routine is a very different proposition from a conventional smart speaker.
But there are still plenty of questions.
Would you pay $300+ for an AI device with no screen?
Would you be comfortable having it around your home all day?
And perhaps the biggest one:
Could a device like this actually reduce our dependence on smartphones, or would it just become another gadget sitting next to them?