Altman-Ive, Talking Gadgets and the Future of Smartphones

The acquisition of the startup founded by Jony Ive, the former Apple design guru, by OpenAI continues to be a topic of discussion. More than a week after the announcement, we still have only a video of Sal Altman and Jony Ive who, after having worked in secret for two years, discuss like two friends at the bar about the future of consumer electronics and the need to "create a family of products for the generative intelligence era". They don't say it openly but what they want to send to the attic are smartphones, cell phones, notifications and mobile screens. "We have the opportunity to reimagine what it means to use a computer", said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The startup will create a product with a level of quality "never seen before in consumer hardware. Artificial intelligence represents such a leap forward in terms of what people can do that it requires new factors to maximize its potential". Now the architect of the iPhone and the inventor of ChatGpt together are causing fear. There has been talk of gadgets without screens powered by AI and therefore by voice for a long time. We all remember Humane's Ai Pin, the mini device with a camera that could only be controlled by voice. When it was presented it was supposed to be the smartphone killer. Today it is an open source project and will be remembered as the first flop of wearables enhanced with ChatGpt. However, it was probably not yet the right time. Certainly, voice will increasingly be - more than screens - the new interface. And perhaps before new gadgets, it will be glasses enhanced with artificial intelligence (Android XR or Meta Ray-Ban) that are born connected to smartphones that will change our habits and therefore perhaps also the shape of cell phones. Apple knows this well, and was immediately indicated by everyone as the main victim of the Altman-Ive duo. Its vice president of services, Eddy Cue, declared that users might not need an iPhone in 10 years. Maybe ten years is even too long.