More details continue to trickle out about OpenAI’s mysterious new hardware device — described previously as an AI-fueled smart speaker that will be the “physical manifestation” of ChatGPT.
Bloomberg now reports that the device will be “donut-shaped,” designed thusly to allow users to carry it around their home and place it in different locations, like a bedside table or a kitchen counter.
It will be constructed from “high-quality metal,” have a “premium look,” and (in a detail that mystifies) will have distinct “moving parts,” sources told Bloomberg.
It also could be slightly more expensive than your average smart speaker, perhaps $300 to $400 per unit, according to this report. For comparison, most of Amazon’s smart home speakers range in price from $40 on the low end to $240 on the high end.
So, to sum up: an expensive talking AI donut that has … moving parts? OpenAI releasing a smart home device has a certain logic to it, in that it would further integrate ChatGPT into users’ lives. However, historically speaking, smart speakers have not always been profitable and may prove a difficult market to break into. The potentially high price point also might not help.
The device, which is being developed in partnership with LoveFrom, the design studio founded by famous former Apple developer Jony Ive, will likely be released at some point in 2027, Bloomberg writes.
The company’s attempt to enter the hardware market has not gone off without a hitch. OpenAI is being sued by the current king of hardware, Apple, which has accused the AI lab of stealing trade secrets. OpenAI has denied wrongdoing.
