Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s ChatGPT-powered hardware AI device hits technical roadblocks: Report
OpenAI confirmed its acquisition of Jonny Ive’s AI hardware startup Io earlier this year while also sharing the ambition of building a ‘family of AI-native devices’. Since then, however, little information has trickled out about the details of the new hardware and its supposed launch date.
We’ve had multiple reports though which have suggested that the company may be working on a smart speaker without a display, smart glasses, a digital voice recorder, and a wearable pin.
A new report by the Financial Times says that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive aim to create a palm-sized device without a screen which can take audio and visual cues from the physical environment and respond to users’ requests.
The report notes that despite having the hardware developed by Ive and his team, there are many obstacles remaining in the device’s software and the infrastructure needed to power it.
Reportedly, among the major issues are deciding on the assistant’s “personality,” along with budgeting for the computing power needed to run OpenAI‘s model on a mass consumer device.
“Amazon has the compute for an Alexa, so does Google [for its Home device], but OpenAI is struggling to get enough compute for ChatGPT, let alone an AI device — they need to fix that first,” a person close to Ive was quoted as saying by the publication.
Meanwhile, a source close to OpenAI told Financial Times that the ongoing problems were simply normal parts of the product development process.
OpenAI and Ive are reportedly having trouble deciding on the “voice” of the new device and its mannerisms. Another issue they are facing is to ensure that the device only speaks up when useful and preventing it from talking too much.
“The concept is that you should have a friend who’s a computer who isn’t your weird AI girlfriend . . . like [Apple’s digital voice assistant] Siri but better,” a person who was briefed on the plans told FT.
What are OpenAI and Ive working on? (This section heading was part of the original source material’s formatting, so I am keeping it for flow).
Reportedly, Ive and OpenAI are working on a device which would be around the size of a smartphone and give users the chance to communicate through a microphone, speaker, and camera.
The new gadget is said to be designed to sit on a desk or tablet but could also be carried by the user. The device will reportedly be “always on” instead of having a hot word to trigger it like “Ok Google” or “Hey Siri”. The collection of data throughout the day via its sensors would give the virtual assistant ‘memory’.
An earlier report from The Information had revealed that OpenAI has already secured a contract with Apple’s product assembler Luxshare to make one of the consumer devices.
Luxshare, a major assembler of Apple’s iPhones and AirPods, would bring large-scale manufacturing capabilities to OpenAI’s effort.
Meanwhile, the company is also said to have approached another Apple product assembler, Goertek, to supply products like speaker modules for the upcoming devices. Goertek assembles AirPods, HomePods, and Apple Watches for the Cupertino-based tech giant.
