OpenAI Reveals 200-Person Hardware Team Building AI Smart Speaker with Camera

Summary

The Information reported on February 20, 2026, that OpenAI has assembled a dedicated hardware team of more than 200 people, led by the io Products division headed by Jony Ive — the former Apple design chief whose startup was acquired by OpenAI for $6.5 billion in May 2025. The team's first product is a smart speaker priced at $200-$300, equipped with a built-in camera for environmental and visual context sensing, with a release target of no earlier than February 2027. The smart speaker is desig