The email landed with a thud: “Subject: Hardware Update.” Internally, everyone braced. Another cryptic memo from Sam Altman, likely filled with more philosophical musings than practical details about OpenAI’s mysterious device—still shrouded in secrecy.
Well, mark your calendars; you might actually see something tangible from OpenAI this year. Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, stated that his company is “on track” to present its famously mysterious thingamajig to the public by the end of the year according to Axios. This would mean the previously rumored release date, September-ish, was not crazy after all.
Lahane’s announcement came during an event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. However, Lahane did not provide any details about what this thing is or does. He also, according to Axios, said what he had described was the “most likely” release schedule, but that “we will see how things advance.”
Whispers from the East: Decoding the Rumors
Remember those grainy photos of alleged iPhone prototypes that used to leak out of China? The hunt for information on OpenAI’s device feels similar. To get details about what the device is and does, you’ll have to read the aforementioned rumors from the China-based leaks account Smart Pikachu. That user posted a week ago that OpenAI is supposedly gunning for the market niche currently occupied by AirPods.
Smart Pikachu described manufacturing giant Foxconn working on something with the codename “Sweetpea,” a “special audio product” within a company project called “Gumdrop,” vaguely in the earbud or “open-ear headphones” zone. It would be two objects—one for each ear—and a little egg-shaped, dental-floss-holder-sized charging dock. Sweetpea would pack heavy duty processing power via a 2-nanometer, smartphone-style chip. Its release might also be followed, or accompanied, by four other “Gumdrop” devices between now and 2028, like a “home-style device,” and, um, a pen, according to Smart Pikachu. And once again: these are just unconfirmed rumors at this point.
What chip is in OpenAI Sweetpea?
The rumors suggest Sweetpea will feature a 2-nanometer, smartphone-style chip. If the rumors hold true, this spec indicates OpenAI wants significant processing power in the device. If so, expect advanced AI capabilities baked directly into the hardware.
The Jony Ive Factor: Design as Seduction?
Remember Apple’s marketing under Steve Jobs? The products weren’t just tools; they were objects of desire. A similar aura surrounds OpenAI’s device. You’ll recall that the vast majority of the actual information OpenAI has given the world so far about its first device comes from two sources: 1) A very strange infomercial for the concept of friendship that OpenAI released in spring of last year starring OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive—whose product design company had just merged with OpenAI.
And 2) a much longer—but somehow less substantive—interview Ive and Altman gave in November in which they explained next to nothing, other than the fact that they’re aiming for a product so sensual that you’ll want to put various parts of your mouth all over it. Altman said it’s “so simple, but then it just does,” whatever that means. Ive said he’s into creating “sophisticated products that you want to touch and you feel no intimidation and you want to use almost carelessly and almost without thought.”
So there you go. It just does, and you won’t even think about it, and you’ll want to smooch it, and it might be available before the midterms. What more do you need to know?
Will OpenAI’s device integrate with ChatGPT?
It’s a reasonable assumption, given OpenAI’s core business. Imagine a seamless, voice-activated ChatGPT experience embedded in a sleek wearable. The potential for productivity and information access is significant. A device that is a portal sounds like the end of the world as we know it, or like a utopian dream come true; depends on which news you watch.
Vaporware or Revolution: Where Does the Truth Lie?
The reality is, right now, this whole thing feels like gazing into a crystal ball. OpenAI’s device is still a black box. All the hype and speculation could lead to disappointment if the final product doesn’t live up to the lofty expectations. Is it possible that this device, the object of so much anticipation, could flop?