OpenAI & Jony Ive's AI necklace rumored to have iPod shuffle form factor

AppleInsider

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, OpenAI and Jony Ive are planning a neck-worn AI device with a similar form factor to the iPod Shuffle.

Former Apple designer Jony Ive

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed on X that the new AI device from Jony Ive and OpenAI is expected to enter mass production in 2027. In his post, he said the prototype is slightly larger than Humane's (failed) AI Pin but remains as compact and elegant as an iPod Shuffle.

The device won't include a display and is designed to be worn around the neck, using cameras and microphones for environmental awareness. It will connect to smartphones and PCs for computing power and display output, positioning it squarely in the emerging category of ambient, screenless AI.

OpenAI acquires Jony Ive's startup to bring hardware vision to life

Kuo's tweet followed news that OpenAI is acquiring Ive's hardware startup, LoveFrom's subsidiary "io," in a deal worth around $6.5 billion. OpenAI plans to release its first products from the collaboration in 2026, with full-scale production coming the following year.

My industry research indicates the following regarding the new AI hardware device from Jony Ive's collaboration with OpenAI:
1. Mass production is expected to start in 2027.
2. Assembly and shipping will occur outside China to reduce geopolitical risks, with Vietnam currently the pic.twitter.com/5IELYEjNyV

-- (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo)

May 22, 2025

The partnership is intended to bring Ive's industrial design expertise into OpenAI's ecosystem as the company moves beyond software and into the physical world.

By manufacturing the device outside China, OpenAI and Ive are also signaling a deliberate move to avoid geopolitical risks. That supply chain shift echoes Apple's own recent efforts to diversify production beyond China.

What it means for Apple and the future of AI devices

This project represents a major push into what analysts call "physical AI," where artificial intelligence moves off the screen and into wearable, voice-activated, and context-aware devices. While companies like Meta and Google have dabbled in ambient computing, OpenAI has lacked a hardware strategy -- until now.

For Apple users, the new device could be the first serious alternative to AirPods or Apple Watch for passive, always-available AI support. The lack of a screen, paired with camera and audio input, suggests a future where interaction happens naturally, without the need to pull out a phone or look at a display.

That's a sharp contrast with Apple's Vision Pro headset or iPhone-first approach, and it could pressure Apple to accelerate its own ambient computing roadmap. The iPod Shuffle comparison is a deliberate callback to a time when Apple changed how we interacted with music by making hardware almost invisible.

OpenAI and Ive appear to be chasing that same level of cultural integration, this time for AI. Whether it becomes the next iPhone or the next AI novelty will depend on execution, ecosystem, and how ready the public is to embrace a new kind of wearable intelligence.



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charlesn

So... let me see if I'm understanding this -- an iPod Shuffle-sized device on a necklace? So it would either have to be worn up high on your neck at a "choker" length, so that the cameras and mics aren't blocked by a shirt--or you wear it lower, but outside of your shirt to prevent the cameras and mics from being blocked. Yeah, no. I honestly don't know anyone, even the social media obsessed, who wants cameras and mics pointed at them which are not under their control. From my POV, that's always the thing that's not considered with devices like "dumb"glasses or whatever that are outfitted with cameras and mics. I have to think that Ive and Altman have something much smarter that they're considering than this. 

apple4thewin

So no matter what, it is either a paperweight by itself and without a subscription or, as long as it is connected to one of your devices, it is basically an extended camera and mic? So if this rumor is true, we are looking at the DJI Mic or something similar with a camera cutout with your ChatGPT plan? Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t a similar device already exist?

supersillyus

The device won't include a display

Ok it's dead then. 

People like to look at stuff. 

If you want to speak to a device you can do that to your phone or watch already. 

And you can look at images on them.

The End.

michelb76

A well-functioning AI necklace that can record for an entire day would be very nice. The ones on the market are shoddy and clunky at best.

randominternetperson

Weren't there at least 2 different iPod Shuffles with completely different form factors? One was a stick of gum; one was a clip-on square. I'm sure I have examples of both in a drawer somewhere. So which are we talking about?

tht

randominternetperson said:

Weren't there at least 2 different iPod Shuffles with completely different form factors? One was a stick of gum; one was a clip-on square. I'm sure I have examples of both in a drawer somewhere. So which are we talking about?

The iPod nano eventually took on that last square iPod shuffle form factor, with a touchscreen, and the clip.

bingo_wings

Microsoft missed the mobile revolution because they were wedded to their cash cow of Windows. Will Apple miss the AI revolution because they are wedded to their cash cow of the iPhone?

9secondkox2

Bingo_Wings said:

Microsoft missed the mobile revolution because they were wedded to their cash cow of Windows. Will Apple miss the AI revolution because they are wedded to their cash cow of the iPhone?

No. Apple is a keen student of history. 

Having already begun ai efforts and launching new products such the failed headset shows that they’re not wedded to anything other than putting their best foot forward in everything they do. 

9secondkox2

A necklace isn’t exactly mass market. 

Kinda disappointed if this is what it ends up being. 

Thry did mention it would be s third device that goes on the desk after a computer and phone. 

Wouldn’t be surprised if it were a watch or even beating apple to the punch as a pair of glasses/sunglasses. 

I’m going to bet on glasses. Wouldn’t be surprised if Jony was wearing them in the preview announcement. 

edited May 22

mikethemartian

They should make it look like an eye that you can mount to your forehead so that you can look like a Venusian on The Twilight Zone.

22july2013

Roughly half of women are comfortable wearing necklaces, compared with only 10% of men. And 10% of the population belong to religions that object to necklaces and jewelry.

By comparison, roughly 75% of the population wears a baseball cap occasionally. That would be a much better place to put a piece of tech. It is more securely mounted there, and much more stable in terms of motion. Most likely Jony Ive has considered this, and I suspect that's where it's actually going, despite Kuo's prognostication.

marvin

Supersillyus said:

The device won't include a display

Ok it's dead then. 

People like to look at stuff. 

If you want to speak to a device you can do that to your phone or watch already. 

And you can look at images on them.

The End.

They are saying it's designed to work with other devices so it could display things on those screens. Although Jony Ive said products like Humane were poorly made, the description of their product sounds similar. One of the biggest downsides of the Humane product was waiting for cloud processing:



If it offloads processing to a local iPhone or other device or has a built-in neural chip, it would be much faster and more private but would need pretty advanced models to run on low-end hardware.

It would be useful for students and in business. A student studying could be stuck on something and would normally ask a teacher for help. The AI device would see the screen and the student can point to the issue and ask it. If it needs to display something, it can show on a phone or computer screen. If it has agent capability, it can control the screen and type things.

The same applies in business. Someone might be processing company earnings reports and need to make a presentation comparing the data. You could open the earnings reports for each year, have the camera look at it and tell it to load this data into Excel and create a graph showing the net income growth.

Someone working in Photoshop could describe actions, remove this object, lighten the photo, crop it to landscape, add a text caption with a suitable font and it can do it.

The main thing Sam Altman alluded to improving on was having to take out a computer, load up a browser, open a chat window, type in a problem and wait for a reply. They want interaction with AI to be more efficient than this and this will broaden its appeal.

They have to focus on improving things that matter to people and are common sources of inefficiency.

anthogag

This is the "I've fallen and I can't get up" necklace with AI. 

bestkeptsecret

I am getting the Humane AI Pin vibes, but then again, Ive just said that it was a bad product:

Jony Ive says Rabbit and Humane made bad products | The Verge

mattinoz

9secondkox2 said:

A necklace isn’t exactly mass market. 

Kinda disappointed if this is what it ends up being. 

Thry did mention it would be s third device that goes on the desk after a computer and phone. 

Wouldn’t be surprised if it were a watch or even beating apple to the punch as a pair of glasses/sunglasses. 

I’m going to bet on glasses. Wouldn’t be surprised if Jony was wearing them in the preview announcement. 

Glasses aren’t exactly mass market accepted either given the market for contact lenses is on par with corrective glasses. All these AI forms are going to need to target lots of forms to find something a big enough user base is willing to use

fred1

So this is meant to replace ankle bracelets for people under house arrest, or are there other uses too? 

It does seem to be the perfect way to broadcast every detail about you to the internet. 

foregoneconclusion

Whatever it turns out to be, it won't be worth $6.5 billion. 

blastdoor

Marvin said:

Supersillyus said:

The device won't include a display

Ok it's dead then. 

People like to look at stuff. 

If you want to speak to a device you can do that to your phone or watch already. 

And you can look at images on them.

The End.

They are saying it's designed to work with other devices so it could display things on those screens. Although Jony Ive said products like Humane were poorly made, the description of their product sounds similar. One of the biggest downsides of the Humane product was waiting for cloud processing:



If it offloads processing to a local iPhone or other device or has a built-in neural chip, it would be much faster and more private but would need pretty advanced models to run on low-end hardware.

It would be useful for students and in business. A student studying could be stuck on something and would normally ask a teacher for help. The AI device would see the screen and the student can point to the issue and ask it. If it needs to display something, it can show on a phone or computer screen. If it has agent capability, it can control the screen and type things.

The same applies in business. Someone might be processing company earnings reports and need to make a presentation comparing the data. You could open the earnings reports for each year, have the camera look at it and tell it to load this data into Excel and create a graph showing the net income growth.

Someone working in Photoshop could describe actions, remove this object, lighten the photo, crop it to landscape, add a text caption with a suitable font and it can do it.

The main thing Sam Altman alluded to improving on was having to take out a computer, load up a browser, open a chat window, type in a problem and wait for a reply. They want interaction with AI to be more efficient than this and this will broaden its appeal.

They have to focus on improving things that matter to people and are common sources of inefficiency.

Definitely the smartest comment so far. 

The challenge for io/openai is that apple can easily copy this hardware. The challenge for Apple is getting their AI house in order. But if Apple can do that, then I think PCC will give them the edge.

jonyarhendts

It’s « profound » BS…

y2an

From what little has been rumored, I don’t think this is intended to be mainly an interactive device, rather a microphone to listen to every conversation around the wearer and transmit that conversation back to open AI. 100 million of these, 100 million sets of private conversations captured without the consent of the participants and used to boost OpenAI’s models. Very, very scary. An enormous intrusion into the lives of millions of people. The actual utility to the user will be through multiple interfaces including on screen information on their other devices, and presumably AI agents acting in the background on spoken requests.