OpenAI's long-teased hardware push with Jony Ive, the legendary ex-Apple designer, is reportedly taking the shape of something unusual: a donut.
According to Decrypt, the company's first device is a doughnut-shaped smart speaker expected to cost more than $300. Fast Company likewise described OpenAI's vision of the future as a donut-shaped smart speaker, while The American Bazaar framed the project as OpenAI expanding into consumer hardware with AI-powered smart speaker plans. All of the coverage is based on reports rather than any announcement from OpenAI itself.
The more eyebrow-raising detail is what the thing does. Gizmodo wrote that the rumored smart speaker sounds "more like a… squirming AI robot" than a conventional voice assistant, noting that unlike an average agentic chatbot-enabled Amazon device, this one is shaping up differently. TechRadar summed it up bluntly — "it's a smart donut" — calling it essentially an Echo Dot with a few twists, and went so far as to ask Gemini and ChatGPT to mock up their own versions.
The hardware chatter arrives alongside software news. AI Insider reported that OpenAI expanded ChatGPT access with new models at the same time details emerged on the upcoming device, and Ukrainian outlet UNN reported that OpenAI unveiled a ChatGPT update with new models and a deeper analysis mode.
None of this is confirmed, and shapes and prices in leaked hardware plans often change before launch.
Why it matters: OpenAI has spent years living inside other companies' phones and browsers, and a device of its own — especially one that moves and occupies your kitchen counter — would put it in direct competition with Amazon's Echo and Google's smart speakers for the most valuable real estate in consumer tech: your home.