OpenAI Removes Jony Ive ‘io’ Partnership Content Amid Trademark Dispute
OpenAI, the company behind the popular ChatGPT AI model, has taken down online materials promoting its significant partnership with design icon Sir Jony Ive’s hardware startup, known as io or IO Products. The removal follows a legal complaint filed by another company regarding the use of the ‘io’ name.
Specifically, OpenAI’s website page announcing the acquisition of IO Products, as well as promotional content including a nine-minute video featuring Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussing the deal, have been removed from the site. While no longer available directly from OpenAI, the video reportedly remains accessible on platforms like YouTube.
The Heart of the Matter: A Trademark Row
The action was prompted by a legal challenge from iyO (also referred to as IYO Inc.), a startup that develops AI-backed earbuds and other AI devices. According to reports, IYO Inc. has filed a case seeking to prevent OpenAI from using the ‘IO’ name for its new hardware venture.
An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the takedown, stating the page was temporarily removed due to a court order stemming from iyO’s trademark complaint. OpenAI, however, maintains its position, adding, “We don’t agree with the complaint and are reviewing our options.” A spokesperson for Jony Ive echoed this sentiment, calling the complaint “utterly baseless” and indicating it will be “vigorously fought.”
Importantly, both OpenAI and Ive’s team have clarified that the trademark dispute and the removal of online content do not affect the underlying deal itself.
The High-Stakes Partnership Between OpenAI and Jony Ive’s IO Products
The partnership, which was publicly announced in May, is a major strategic move for OpenAI, traditionally focused on software. The deal, valued between $6.4 billion (£4.8bn) and $6.5 billion (reportedly including $5 billion in equity and leveraging OpenAI’s existing 23% stake), involves IO Products taking on creative and design leadership roles across the combined businesses.
Jony Ive, the former Apple chief designer celebrated for his work on iconic products like the iPhone, iPod, and MacBook Air, co-founded IO Products (incorporated in Delaware in September 2023 and California in April 2025) after leaving Apple in 2019. His collaboration with Sam Altman reportedly spans years, beginning quietly in early 2023, with Altman hinting at an “AI-first device” with Ive in early 2025.
Altman has expressed exceptionally high expectations for the collaboration and the resulting hardware. He reportedly told employees he was confident they could sell as many as 100 million units of the first device, calling the acquisition of Ive’s company “the biggest thing we’ve ever done as a company” and predicting it could eventually add $1 trillion to OpenAI’s valuation. A now-removed joint blog post from Altman and Ive described ambitions so large they necessitated creating an “entirely new company” structure for the hardware division, led by OpenAI executive Peter Welinder.
The Future Product: An “Unobtrusive” AI Device?
The much-anticipated first product from the OpenAI-Ive partnership is expected to launch sometime next year. While details remain limited, reports suggest it will be an “unobtrusive” AI-enabled device designed to be highly aware of a user’s surroundings and life.
Described as potentially sitting on a user’s desk and complementing existing technology like a MacBook Pro and iPhone, the device aims to offer a completely new kind of interaction. Altman has been trying out a prototype, describing it as potentially the “coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.”
Despite Ive’s previously voiced regrets about the negative impacts of smartphone use, Altman has clarified that their venture does not aim to eliminate the iPhone, comparing their new device’s potential impact to how smartphones didn’t make laptops obsolete. It’s envisioned as a “totally new kind of thing.”
With the trademark dispute causing a temporary digital blackout on OpenAI’s site regarding the deal, the tech world awaits further developments in the legal battle and the eventual unveiling of the innovative AI hardware concept born from this high-profile collaboration.
