OpenAI\u2019s big hardware venture alongside legendary ex-Apple designer Jony Ive is reportedly shaping up to be a smart home speaker powered by AI. But unlike your average agentic chatbot-enabled Amazon Echo Dot or Google Home Speaker, OpenAI\u2019s puck is built for squirming.<\/p>\n
The latest report from Bloomberg offers us our most complete idea of what to expect from OpenAI\u2019s nascent hardware, expected to launch in 2027. According to anonymous sources, the smart speaker will be shaped like a donut and about the size of a hockey puck. Bloomberg even suggests that the device costs around $300 or $400, which would be significantly more than most other smart home speakers. For that price, the device will include \u201cparts that move on their own\u201d when it\u2019s interacting with the user. The point of such wriggling is meant to make it feel \u201calive.\u201d We\u2019ll just have to see for ourselves whether an anthropomorphized robot pet puck is endearing or creepy.<\/p>\n
More than a simple smart home hub, the OpenAI puck is supposed to act like a \u201ccompanion\u201d that can be operated either handheld or on a desk. The company behind ChatGPT may try to emphasize how you could take it with you in your backpack to work, if you really can\u2019t spend five minutes without your AI friend hanging about.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s reportedly no screen, either. That means you\u2019ll have no choice but to talk to your AI and pray it gets the answers you need. It\u2019s said to include some LED lights to let you know when it\u2019s listening, but it will also include sensors that could include a camera to perceive its surroundings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big takeaway here is that it looks, feels and acts nothing like an Apple product or anything the company is currently planning,\u201d Bloomberg\u2019s Mark Gurman said on X.<\/p>\n
As much as we can pretend that this supposed wriggling AI puck is wholly unique, it\u2019s not far outside the realms of what other companies have been working on\u2014including Apple. Last year, Apple\u2019s Machine Learning Research Division shared its work on an AI-based lamp, the kind that\u2019s supposed to remind you of Pixar\u2019s beloved Luxo Jr. mascot. The \u201cELEGNT\u201d lamp could follow your movements, pretend to read with you, and act a little spontaneous as it performed its tasks.<\/p>\n
For instance, instead of simply telling you the weather on command, it would pretend to look outside (likely giving the AI chatbot a chance to formulate its response) and then give you the answer. And yes, that\u2019s as cute as it sounds. But it\u2019s not the kind of device that would have the same functionality that a big breakout hardware product from OpenAI requires. OpenAI reportedly has plans for several more AI-focused products down the line, including a potential smartphone, and we have to see if they can get any more or less weird than the moving puck. Apple reportedly has plans for new AI Siri-enabled HomePods.<\/p>\n
I know we shouldn\u2019t knock something before seeing it, but OpenAI\u2019s first hardware device doesn\u2019t sound all that appealing or genre-defining as initially suggested when Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman first teamed up. There\u2019s also the awkwardness surrounding an ongoing lawsuit between Apple and the makers of ChatGPT over allegations the AI lab\u2014buoyed by loads of ex-Apple staff\u2014effectively stole trade secrets. OpenAI responded to the suit, saying it was a \u201cbaseless\u201d witch hunt designed to cover up Apple\u2019s initial failures at its own AI rollout.<\/p>\n
Looking beyond the corporate cock fight, the real question we should be asking is if we really want yet another AI gadget in our lives. If push came to shove, we\u2019d take a Pixar lamp over a puck any day.<\/p>\n