Quick Summary
It looks like the first device from OpenAI and Sir Jony Ive could be a recognisably-shaped smart speaker, with a costs anywhere upward from $300.
Sources claim it'll be the size of a hockey puck and battery-powered, but it will also have moving parts.
We've already spent months guessing what Sir Jony Ive's first hardware collaboration with OpenAI might turn out to be, but the latest leak has landed on something quite different from what we've previously thought. It's now claimed to be a smart speaker that sounds like it could be roughly the same size and shape as an (old) Amazon Echo Dot.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (via The Verge), OpenAI is preparing to launch its debut consumer gadget as a screen-less, doughnut-shaped speaker that’s around the size of a hockey puck.
If that all sounds a little familiar, wait till you hear about the rumoured price.
Apparently, it will be priced over $300, which is some way north of Amazon's own Echo lineup, which starts as low as $40.
What will be different about OpenAI's smart speaker?
The suggested pricing puts the device firmly in HomePod territory instead, although the report also notes that it could “have a unique look, complete with moving parts”.. Some elements could move to show when the device is interacting with the user.
Sources also described it as a “battery-powered” unit designed to be picked up and easily carried from room to room “with one hand”.
It's said to include a camera system too, plus several microphones and ambient sensors – all wrapped in Ive's signature high-end industrial design language.
According to Gurman, the device will “work similarly to the company’s ChatGPT voice mode on smartphone apps, but with more advanced models for humanlike interactivity”.
It's a pretty dramatic pivot from the wearable and earbud rumours that have swirled since OpenAI folded Ive's io startup into its hardware division back in May 2025.
As we’ve covered before, court filings have already suggested the device won't reach customers before the end of February 2027, so anyone hoping to get their hands on ChatGPT's answer to Alexa (with a twist, maybe even literally if this latest report is anything to go by) will need some patience.
