The OpenAI device designed by former Apple design head Jony Ive will see its release delayed until next year, according to new court filings shared by Wired.
The delay is due to a 2025 trademark infringement lawsuit filed by audio device startup iyO, following the AI company’s acquisition of Ive-founded startup io.
OpenAI last year announced that it was acquiring io, the hardware-based AI startup co-founded by Former Apple executive Jony Ive. Ive had been working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on io for two years, and the duo had plans for a family of AI devices.
Altman and Ive outlined their partnership and what they expect to create as a result of the merger. “I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place, and to this moment,” said Ive. “What we’ve been working on, I think, has completely captured our imagination.”
Altman says Ive gave him a prototype of the first device to allow him to test it. “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,” he said.
The device was initially targeted for a end of 2026 release. But the latest court filing from OpenAI reveals the company’s first hardware device won’t be released before the end of February 2027. OpenAI has not yet created any packaging or marketing materials for the device, according to the document.
As reported by TechCrunch, the name of the device, “io,” was challenged by “iyO,” a Google-backed hardware startup that manufactures custom-molded earpieces. The court ordered OpenAI to remove all references to “io,” but the company decided to fight back.
Now, the filing reveals that OpenAI has changed its product naming strategy, deciding against using “the name ‘io’ (or ‘IYO,’ or any capitalization of either) in connection with the naming, advertising, marketing, or sale of any artificial intelligence-enabled hardware products.”
In May 2025, Mactrast reported that the “io” would be a “third core device” after a MacBook Pro and an iPhone, capable of being fully aware of a user’s surroundings and life, and could rest in one’s pocket or on one’s desk.
A since-removed Reddit post from over the weekend shared an alleged Super Bowl ad to unveil its upcoming device that was pulled it at the last minute. The ad featured actor Alexander Skarsgård ( the “Murderbot“) in silver headphones, tapping a reflective puck.