OpenAI just gave a clearer timeline for its mystery AI device from former Apple designer Jony Ive.
In a Monday (Feb. 9) court filing, the company said its first hardware device “will not ship to customers before the end of February 2027,” offering the most concrete launch window yet even as the nature of the gadget is still unknown, according to Business Insider.
Beyond the new shipping target, few firm details are available. OpenAI has previously said it plans to unveil the device in the second half of 2026, though it’s unclear whether that timing still stands.
Peter Welinder, OpenAI's vice president and general manager, also said the company has not yet created packaging or marketing materials for the product.
Earlier court filings revealed that a prototype referenced by CEO Sam Altman in io's launch video was “not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device.”
Wired reports that one prototype is screenless and designed to sit on a desk alongside a phone and laptop, but OpenAI has not publicly confirmed what category the final product will fall into.
A since-deleted Reddit post that went viral claimed OpenAI had pulled a Super Bowl ad unveiling the device, reportedly showing actor Alexander Skarsgärd wearing silver headphones and tapping a reflective puck.
OpenAI spokesperson Lindsay McCallum told Wired the company had nothing to do with the ad, and the company later said the video was "totally fake."
Monday’s disclosure came as part of an ongoing trademark dispute with audio startup iyO, which sued OpenAI last year after the company acquired Ive's startup, io, in a deal worth about $6.5 billion.
In the filing, Welinder said OpenAI had reconsidered its naming plans and "decided not to use the name 'io' (or ‘IYO,’ or any capitalization of either) in connection with the naming, advertising, marketing, or sale of any artificial intelligence-enabled hardware products.”
The company's lawyers added that they had "reevaluated the branding of their forthcoming hardware products in light of OpenAI's existing brands," and argued that a planned April 2026 preliminary injunction hearing would be "both unnecessary and impractical."