OpenAI and Jony Ive’s AI hardware ambitions hit roadblock over trademark dispute: Report

OpenAI has reportedly scrubbed all references to its newly acquired hardware subsidiary, io, from its website this week, following a trademark dispute brought by iyO, a Google-backed start-up developing custom-moulded earpieces billed as “the world’s first audio computer”.

According to MacRumors, the legal clash comes after iyO submitted court documents alleging that OpenAI and io were fully aware of its in-ear computing device, even going so far as to request a demonstration. Reportedly, the filings include emails that iyO says prove OpenAI’s team was briefed on the start-up’s innovation prior to launching its own hardware efforts.

OpenAI, which purchased io, a company co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, for a reported $6.5 billion, has not publicly commented on the trademark claims. The AI firm has previously said that the io acquisition could eventually add as much as $1 trillion in value to its business, the report said.

In court documents filed on 12 June, io co-founder and ex-Apple hardware executive Tang Tan addressed the accusations, stating that while the company had indeed “surveyed the existing commercial offerings” in the early stages of development, this included buying over 30 different headphone and earbud models for research purposes.

The publication highlights that Tan also clarified that the first product fromio is “not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device”, contradicting earlier speculation from tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo had predicted the device would be worn around the neck like a necklace, but Tan's declaration suggests something quite different and perhaps more elusive. The product, according to the filings, is still “at least a year away” from being available for purchase.

Several media reports have previously hinted that the AI-powered device will likely be pocket-sized, screen-free, and capable of contextual awareness, designed to understand a user’s environment and life in real-time. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly described the prototype, tested in private, as “the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen”.