Sam Altman Says Mysterious ChatGPT Device Is So Beautiful, It Won't Need A Protective Case

Sam Altman and Jony Ive said in mid-May that they're working on a piece of AI-first hardware that will put ChatGPT front and center, confirming previous reports that said the two parties were working on the "iPhone of artificial intelligence." A few days ago, the OpenAI CEO teased the gadget during a dinner with reporters. "Listen, we're going to ship a device that is going to be so beautiful," Altman said, per TechCrunch. "If you put a case over it, I will personally hunt you down," the CEO joked, in response to someone remarking Altman's iPhone had no case on it.

According to 36kr reporting on the same media meeting in San Francisco, Altman also teased the device will be a surprise "worth the wait," calling it "simply incredible" and indicating that the product will deliver a new computing paradigm.

A few days ago, Altman tweeted that "someday soon something smarter than the smartest person you know will be running on a device in your pocket, helping you with whatever you want. This is a very remarkable thing." This seemed to be another teaser for the ChatGPT hardware.

Altman did not actually show the ChatGPT device during the dinner with reporters. Also, Altman and Ive did not show the gadget during their teaser announcement in May, either. Reports that followed shared unofficial details about it. The unnamed, mysterious ChatGPT device isn't a phone, and it isn't a pair of smart glasses like Meta's Ray-Ban and Oakley models. Reports have described it as an iPod-like device that you wear around the neck, keep in your pocket, or place on your desk. OpenAI might unveil the gadget in late 2026, with the CEO aiming to ship 100 million units faster than any product before.

"Jony recently gave me one of the prototypes of the device for the first time to take home, and I've been able to live with it, and I think it is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen," Altman said during the mid-May video, where he and Jony Ive confirmed the ChatGPT-io partnership. io is the name of Ive's AI startup, the company that worked on the ChatGPT device prototypes. OpenAI purchased io Products for $6.5 billion.

During the same chat with Jony Ive, Altman explained the reason why ChatGPT needs its own hardware. To access ChatGPT right now, you need to use a computer and load up the ChatGPT website in a browser or open a standalone app. The implication was that a specialized piece of hardware built around ChatGPT would make interacting with the AI a faster process.

Altman gave OpenAI employees an internal presentation of the ChatGPT hardware in the days that followed. The CEO reportedly described it as an AI companion, saying that he wants OpenAI to sell 100 million units faster than any first-generation products from any other company.

The CEO also said the device will be unobtrusive. Small enough to carry in a pocket, the AI hardware should become a person's third "core device" after the iPhone and MacBook. The gadget will be aware of the user's context, ready to assist. OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap said in a separate interview that OpenAI is developing an ambient computer layer for the ChatGPT device that will allow the AI to understand how a user is interacting with other people in various instances.