OpenAI buys iPhone architect’s startup for $6.4bn
OpenAI is buying an untested startup for $6.4bn, the ChatGPT maker’s biggest acquisition yet.The hardware startup, called io, was founded by Apple design guru Jony Ive, known best as one of the principal architects of the iPhone.Ive and OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, said in a blog post that their partnership has been two years in the making.“A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition,” they wrote in the blog post, which offered scant details on upcoming devices.
“Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs.”OpenAI’s purchase of io is its biggest known acquisition yet.Ive and a cohort of other Apple alumni founded io one year ago, according to the blog post.It is part of Ive’s bigger project called LoveFrom, which describes itself as a “creative collective” made up of architects, artists, engineers, various types of designers, musicians and writers.Ive left Apple in 2019 after a 27-year career as one of the company’s foremost product designers.
He’s known for simple and clean aesthetics that pay attention to small details like packaging and font,One of his early famous designs was the brightly colored bubble-shaped iMac computer,From there, he went on to design the first iPod, iPhone, MacBook Air, Apple Watch and AirPods,For his work on creating such distinctive products, Ive was knighted by Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace in 2012, a moment he called “thrilling” and “particularly humbling”,In Altman and Ive’s blog post on Wednesday, they wrote that the io team will merge with OpenAI to work “more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco”.
Ive himself will not join OpenAI as an employee, but his company will “take over design for all of OpenAI, including its software”, according to Bloomberg.Since leaving Apple and starting LoveFrom, Ive has mostly remained quiet, and io has not debuted any hardware.His company’s list of clients reportedly includes Christie’s, Airbnb and Ferrari, though.Another project Ive has been working on is LoveFrom’s headquarters in San Francisco, according to the New York Times.Ives told the paper he is designing the headquarters of the company he is developing with OpenAI.
OpenAI has likewise yet to unveil a hardware device, but it has indicated it is heading in that direction.It has hired hardware and robotics staff, including Caitlin “CK” Kalinowski, who headed Meta’s augmented reality glasses initiative.In her LinkedIn announcement, Kalinowski wrote that her new role at OpenAI is to focus on “robotics work and partnerships to help bring AI into the physical world”.OpenAI has also invested in the robot startup Physical Intelligence, which aims to bring “general-purpose AI into the physical world”.Investors have been throwing money at OpenAI over the past couple of years, which is now valued at $300bn, according to Bloomberg.
In March, it closed a funding round of $40bn led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank.Microsoft has a 49% stake in the AI company after investing $13bn in 2023.Sign up to TechScapeA weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our livesafter newsletter promotionAlong with io, OpenAI moved to make other mammoth acquisitions over the last year.It purchased the AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for $3bn earlier this month and bought the real-time analytics database Rockset for an undisclosed sum last summer.
Thames Water boss ordered to tell MPs if executives received bonus payments
The chief executive of Thames Water has been ordered to tell MPs whether any executives have received payments from a controversial bonus package taken from a £3bn loan.Britain’s biggest water company admitted last week that senior managers were in line for “substantial” bonuses linked to an emergency £3bn loan. Thames claimed the payouts were vital to retain staff and prevent rival companies from “picking off” its best employees. The disclosure provoked fury as the company has said its finances are “hair-raising” and that it came “very close to running out of money entirely” last year.On Tuesday, the environment secretary, Steve Reed, announced the bonuses had been withdrawn by the water company after the Guardian revealed the chair of Thames Water had wrongly claimed they were insisted upon by creditors
M&S contractor ‘investigating whether it was gateway for cyber-attack’
An Indian company that operates Marks & Spencer’s IT helpdesk is reportedly investigating whether it was used by cybercriminals to gain access to systems at the retailer, which is battling a devastating hack.M&S said this week that “threat actors” had gained access to the retailer’s systems through one of its contractors – understood to be Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).The clothing, food and homeware retailer confirmed the hackers used “social engineering” techniques to attack them, such as posing as a staff member to fool a helpdesk into giving away passwords.TCS, which has worked with M&S for more than a decade, has been helping the retailer with its inquiries into the cyber-attack, which began over the Easter weekend. The retailer said the attack could cost it up to £300m in profit
Sunny spring drives biggest jump in retail sales in Great Britain in four years
Sunny spring weather sent shoppers flocking to supermarkets and specialists such as butchers, bakers and alcohol outlets last month, fuelling the strongest quarterly jump in retail sales in Great Britain in almost four years.Retail sales volumes rose by 1.2% in April, well above City forecasts of an increase of between 0.2% and 0.4%, marking the fourth straight month of sales growth
UK private sector shrinking as firms cut jobs; pressure to raise taxes as government borrowing jumps – as it happened
Britain’s private sector is shrinking for the second month running as factory output falls at the fastest rate in a year and a half, a new survey shows.The latest poll of purchasing managers at UK companies found that private sector output is decreasing in May, although at a slower rate than in April.Manufacturing production fell at the fastest rate since October 2023, although this was moderated by a “fractional rise” in service sector output.UK firms reported that clients were cautious this month, due to business uncertainty, leading to a drop in new orders. However, worries about US tariffs have dropped this month, after Donald Trump delayed tariffs on America’s trading partners and agreed a trade deal with the UK
UK petrol prices poised to fall further as oil prices tumble
Global oil prices have tumbled by more than $1 a barrel in a sign that pressure on households at the petrol pumps could ease further.The price of Brent crude fell to $63.86 a barrel on Thursday following reports that the Opec oil cartel and its allies may increase their production for July, despite weaker global demand for fossil fuels.The price of crude is now well below the $80.53 a barrel average recorded last year, a fall that has helped to put pump prices at their lowest level in almost four years
Ministers said to be considering bill to wipe out British Steel’s debts
Ministers are reportedly considering legislation to relieve British Steel of debts that have risen to nearly £1bn, as the government considers how best to prepare the Scunthorpe steelworks for sale.The government took control of the business last month after it said its Chinese owner, Jingye Steel, planned to close the plant within days. The move required emergency legislation that was passed in a historic recall of parliament.Jingye remains the legal owner of British Steel, despite the takeover, and is owed money by the company. Those debts would probably have been wiped out in a liquidation
Bradford project produces ‘outstanding’ rise in children’s physical activity
Number of vape shops in England rises by almost 1,200% in a decade
Ministers brace for NHS strikes after doctors denounce ‘derisory’ pay rise
What are the ‘radical’ proposed reforms to UK criminal sentencing?
Let’s not wait for fatal accidents to happen | Letters
Letter: Graham Serjeant obituary