Openai Teases First Hardware Product Set To Launch July 15

OpenAI is entering the hardware market, with plans to launch its first device on July 15. The teaser, posted by the OpenAI Developers account, carried the caption, “Your favorite Codex shortcuts are getting an upgrade.” It is widely believed that the device is a collaboration with Work Louder, a keyboard manufacturer, on a Codex-branded input device.

The brief teaser appears to hint at a device that closely resembles Work Louder’s existing Creator Micro 2 macro pad, which offer multiple mechanical switches, a joystick, and a touch sensor into a compact form factor. A device like this would give Codex power users dedicated shortcut controls, making it easier to run, accept, or rewrite code suggestions without relying on keyboard shortcuts.

Until now, OpenAI has been primarily a software company. A Codex-branded hardware accessory suggests this could be a separate device, unrelated to its ongoing hardware collaboration with Jony Ive’s LoveFrom.

Last year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hinted that the AI startup had completed its first hardware prototypes. In May, OpenAI acquired Jony Ive’s startup, io, in a $6.4 billion all-equity deal and announced plans to develop new AI devices. The former Apple designer, best known for the iPhone and iPad, Ive is behind the upcoming hardware project. Ive has said he expects to unveil the device within the next two years.

OpenAI’s hardware plans have been closely watched by its Silicon Valley competitors. Nearly every major tech company, along with several startups, is developing a new wave of AI-powered devices. However, none of these products has achieved widespread success so far.

OpenAI has remained quiet about what its upcoming device could be, but it is widely expected to be powered by ChatGPT. If successful, such a product could eventually become a competitor to Apple. Bloomberg recently reported that Paul Meade, Apple’s vice president in charge of the Vision Products Group, is leaving the company to join OpenAI.