OpenAI on Wednesday confirmed it has completed its nearly $6.5 billion acquisition of io, the hardware startup co-founded by former Apple design legend Jony Ive.
In its statem, OpenAI referred to the company as “io Products Inc.”
The original blog post revealing the deal has since been taken down from OpenAI’s website, following a trademark dispute with Iyo — a hearing device startup that emerged from Google’s moonshot division.
“We’re thrilled to share that the io Products, Inc. team has officially merged with OpenAI. Jony Ive and LoveFrom remain independent and have assumed deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI,” OpenAI stated.
The company initially unveiled the acquisition alongside plans to develop dedicated AI hardware in a video featuring CEO Sam Altman and Jony Ive.
However, the video has since been removed from the company’s website and social media platforms due to the ongoing trademark lawsuit and has not been reinstated.
“The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco,” the blog post states.
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