OpenAI aims develop a more natural and simpler user interface for engaging with AI. Credit: Levart_Photographer/Unsplash.

OpenAI is in talks with Jony Ive, a former Apple designer, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son to set up a company for building the “iPhone of artificial intelligence”, reported the Financial Times, citing sources.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is working with LoveFrom to develop the AI company’s first consumer device, with $1bn in funding from the Japanese investment major, the sources said.

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Ive, who helped design the iPhone, founded LoveFrom after leaving Apple in 2019.

According to the sources, Altman and Ive have discussed potential designs for the new consumer products powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The goal is to develop a more natural and simpler user interface for engaging with AI, the publication said.

The process of choosing a design or device is still in its early stages and there are a number of options on the table, the sources said.

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Son, who has also been part of some of the brainstorming sessions, has offered financial support for the venture.

He has also suggested a key role for chip designing company Arm, which is majority owned by SoftBank, in this proposed venture.

Son, Altman, and Ive have discussed about starting a business that would combine the expertise and technology of three firms, according to the sources.

Talks are believed to be “serious”, but a deal is yet to be signed, the sources said, adding that it could take months for a venture to be launched and years before a product reaches the market.

SoftBank, OpenAI and LoveFrom refused to comment on the development.

The news follows the reports that OpenAI is in talks to sell stake that could value the company at $90bn.

In May this year, the AI company raised more than $300m at a valuation of $29bn, with backing from investors such as Sequoia Capital, Thrive K2 Global and Andreessen Horowitz.