According to a TechCrunch release on Wednesday (January 21), OpenAI's interest in hardware development has been in the spotlight since the company acquired the io startup owned by former Apple design chief Jony Ive in 2025.
OpenAI's Head of Global Affairs Chris Lehane said in a panel hosted by Axios in Davos that the artificial intelligence (AI) startup is on track to announce its first hardware in the second half of 2026.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously described the device the company is developing as more “calm and peaceful” than the iPhone.
Previous reports have suggested that OpenAI wants to develop a screenless device that is compact and portable.
According to a number of mass media reports and technology information leakers, OpenAI's first device may be a pair of earbuds.
The device, codenamed " Sweet Pea ," is rumored to have a different design from similar products already on the market.
The earbuds are said to be powered by a custom 2-nanometer processor and handle AI tasks directly on the device, without having to send requests to the cloud.
