OpenAI Plan To Ship 100 Million AI Devices That Documents Your Entire Life

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is partnering with Jony Ive, the legendary designer behind the iPhone, to create wearable AI devices that can “fully aware” of a user’s surroundings and life.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Altman has directed his team to produce 100 million of these secretive “AI companion” gadgets.

The news follows OpenAI’s acquisition of Ive’s AI firm, io, after years of “quietly” working with his design studio, LoveFrom. While the purchase price wasn’t disclosed, Altman and Ive told Bloomberg the deal was valued at nearly $6.5 billion.

In a leaked recording of an internal call, Altman told employees the io deal offers a “chance to do the biggest thing we’ve ever done as a company.”

The unnamed device, still in development, will be compact—small enough for a pocket or desk—and designed to reduce screen time. Unlike an Apple Watch, it won’t have phone features.

The collaboration between Altman and Ive sounds like a Silicon Valley dream, but skepticism remains. After the Humane AI pin flopped—users returned the $700 wearable due to its bulk and poor performance—many wonder if people will embrace another always-watching AI device.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo speculated the OpenAI-Ive product might be “slightly larger” than Humane’s (about the size of an Apple Watch face).

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It’s unclear if the device will record audio or video, or where such data would be stored. OpenAI hasn’t clarified these details. Still, the concept feels eerily similar to Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You,” where implants record every moment of a person’s life.

In this episode, people have grain implants that record everything they see and hear, allowing them to replay memories. The story follows Liam, a paranoid lawyer who obsessively reviews his wife Ffion’s past interactions, suspecting infidelity. His relentless digging destroys their marriage, exposing painful truths.

Its haunting finale shows Liam ripping out his grain, unable to bear his own memories. It remains one of Black Mirror’s most impactful stories—and thirteen years after that episode aired, it seems we’re inching closer to its dystopian vision.