OpenAI Bets $6.5 Billion on Jony Ive to Ditch Phones and Laptops

Pivot 5
May 22, 2025

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OpenAI Pours $6.5 Billion Into Jony Ive Hardware Gambit

OpenAI will acquire Jony Ive’s design start-up Io for $6.5 billion and task him with creating a “family of devices” built for ChatGPT. Sam Altman says current keyboards and screens create too much friction between users and AI.
Ive gains “deep design and creative responsibilities” across OpenAI as the partnership pursues bespoke hardware that could replace smartphones and computers. Altman’s launch video promises access to a “team of geniuses” on dedicated hardware but offers no product details or timeline.
Owning end-to-end hardware lets OpenAI bypass rival platforms and pull user data into its own ecosystem, a play that pits the $300 billion firm against Apple, Google, and Amazon. Altman’s move mirrors Big Tech’s scramble to bolt AI onto legacy devices, yet earlier standalone AI gadgets have flopped.

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Check Point uncovered a Facebook malvertising campaign that impersonates Kling AI and pushes a remote access trojan to users. Counterfeit pages and sponsored ads have already exposed more than 22 million people to the malicious download.
Victims are lured to cloned Kling websites that serve a disguised Windows executable which loads the PureHVNC RAT and credential stealer. Investigators counted at least 70 promoted posts and found code and ad clues linking the operation to actors in Vietnam.
The incident reinforces a growing pattern of generative-AI brand hijacks being weaponized for data theft through social media. Meta’s platforms are simultaneously battling widespread scams originating from Vietnam, China, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Several lending and insurance platforms report during the latest earnings season that AI-led automation now drives their underwriting. Upstart said 92% of its loans require no human intervention, while LendingClub, Affirm and Lemonade also touted machine-learning models guiding credit decisions.
Upstart’s Q1 personal loan originations jumped 83% to $2 billion and unrealized losses dropped to $3.8 million from $10.7 million a year earlier. LendingClub saw originations rise 21% to $2 billion with net charge-offs falling to 4.8%, and Lemonade’s in-force premiums climbed 27% as its customer base grew 21%.
Filings across these companies show AI is cutting charge-offs and delinquencies while steering more credit to super-prime and low-risk borrowers. Executives state that faster fully-automated decisions are selecting better borrowers and directly lifting revenue.

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Honor-roll sophomore Lucy Pedersen saw her history grade plunge to 71 after her teacher ran the assignment through an AI tool and accepted its feedback. When she demanded a human review, her score shot up to 93.
The district forbids students from using AI but has no rules for teachers, and the superintendent says AI guidance is only “on the policy agenda.” Nationally, a Rand study says 25% of K-12 teachers used AI last year while Digital Promise found just 25% of districts have policies in place.
The mismatch between strict student bans and unchecked teacher use is eroding trust in grades and spotlighting oversight gaps. With a state bill to study AI’s impact dead and the Education Department’s toolkit optional, Maine classrooms remain a patchwork of unregulated experimentation.

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Klarna’s quarterly earnings video starred a lifelike AI avatar of CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, not the man himself. The buy-now-pay-later company used the digital stand-in on YouTube as it gears up for an IPO.
Subtle tells—minimal blinking and slightly off voice sync—revealed the synthetic presenter, whose jacket matched a well-known photo of the real CEO. Klarna credited AI for a fourth straight profitable quarter, 100 million users, a roughly 40% staff reduction, and revenue per employee nearing $1 million.
The move feeds a widening debate over AI replacing top executives, a topic recently spoofed by startup Artisan. A Harvard Business Review study cited in the article found an AI “CEO” outperformed humans on most tasks but lost its job after mishandling black-swan events.

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