Renowned former Apple designer Jony Ive, who joined the tech titan in 1992, gained fame for crafting iconic products like the iPhone and iPad. Departing Apple in 2019, Ive established various ventures, including “io,” an AI device startup. Recently, this startup was acquired by OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and a leader in AI, through a $6.5 billion all-stock transaction.
Or was it? If you check OpenAI’s website or social media, you will no longer find any mention of it.
Following the acquisition announcement, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman and Ive appeared in a video together to reveal their collaboration. Altman described one of the products he experienced as “the coolest piece of technology the world has ever seen,” while Ive praised Altman, referring to him as “a visionary.”
Currently, the page only displays the message: “This page is temporarily down due to a court order following a trademark complaint from iyO regarding our use of the name ‘io.’ We don’t agree with the complaint and are reviewing our options.”
Spokespeople for Ive and OpenAI told Bloomberg that the public content was removed because of a recently filed trademark lawsuit by a company called IYO Inc., which also builds AI devices and wants to bar OpenAI from using the “io” name.
“This is an utterly baseless complaint and we’ll fight it vigorously,” a spokesperson for Ive said on Sunday, per Bloomberg.
But until then, the launch of the “coolest” tech ever is going to have to wait.
Former Apple designer Jony Ive, who began at the tech giant in 1992, is famous for his work creating the iPhone and iPad (among other products). Ive left Apple in 2019 to found his own companies, including “io,” an AI device startup, which was just purchased for $6.5 billion in an all-stock deal last month by ChatGPT-maker and AI behemoth, OpenAI.
Or was it? If you check OpenAI’s website or social media, you will no longer find any mention of it.
The rest of this article is locked.
Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.
