Did I catch your attention with that provocative headline? Could you give me some leeway?
If rumours, as well as carefully Sam Altman orchestrated leaks, are to be believed, OpenAI may be about to launch something that could change everything. Not just how we use computers but how we interact with information, with each other, and with the physical world around us.
Forget screens. Forget apps. Forget about pulling a light board out of your pocket 200 times a day. Sam Altman and legendary former Apple designer Jony Ive are reportedly deep into developing what they see as a successor not just to the iPhone but to the concept of the smartphone itself.
It’s not a phone, they tell us. It’s not glasses, and it’s not a simple voice assistant in a plastic case. So what is it? Though intentionally vague, the vision is clear: a discreet, possibly wearable, and certainly AI-powered device that sits at the intersection of presence, consciousness, and utility—an invisible interface between you and your life.
Interestingly enough, this isn’t about more intelligent devices. It’s about something more profound: ambient computing. A system so integrated, so subtle, and so bright, it essentially disappears — while still knowing enough to be useful.
Designing a New Paradigm
To understand the ambition of this project, consider the collaboration that drives it. Altman is the face of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, Sora, and a suite of tools that are rapidly changing human-computer interaction. Jony Ive is the industrial design genius behind the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and Apple Watch, whose imprint is evident on modern consumer electronics.
Together, they created a new company under the OpenAI umbrella, acquiring Ive’s design studio, io. The goal is to build a family of AI-powered products from scratch, unconstrained by traditional expectations of keyboards, displays, or app stores. Altman called it “the greatest achievement we’ve ever had as a company.” I’ve compared the excitement to the one he felt 30 years ago when he designed the first Apple computer.
The device – or, more accurately, this new category of devices – will not be just an accessory. It is designed to be a companion or, more accurately, a system. Something you wear, put on, or have around. Something that understands where you’re, what you’re doing, and what’s most essential and that acts on your behalf with minimal friction.
In a one-on-one meeting with OpenAI employees, Altman made it clear: This isn’t a phone. Or glasses. It’s designed to sit on a desk, fit in a pocket, or clip to your clothes. It’s lightweight. It’s aware. It’s environmentally friendly. But most importantly, you won’t even realise you’re wearing it.
Perhaps most crucially — it’s not meant to show you the future. It’s meant to know it.
Device Without a Screen Sam Altman
So, how does a device without a screen work? It’s pretty simple if we redefine the concept of an interface.
This new product is expected to rely primarily on voice and audio interaction to operate. You speak. It listens. It interprets and responds. The vision here is not so much “Hey Siri” as “Why didn’t you remind me to call my mom today?”
This interface goes beyond commands and requests. It requires context. It requires memory. It requires intuition. It’s not a computer you use; it works for you.
Without a screen to distract you or dominate your attention, the device could be, paradoxically, more present. Always there, constantly aware, but never the centre of your attention.
We’re already seeing prototypes from other companies testing similar ideas. Google unveiled smart glasses that use conversational AI and floating displays. Meta experimented with voice-activated Ray-Ban glasses. Humane tried (and failed) to introduce a wearable AI icon. But OpenAI and Ive seem to be aiming for something less flashy and more fundamental.
Not a gadget. A companion.
Listening Is the Feature, Not the Flaw
For this device to be handy, it needs to know almost everything about your life. That includes your location. Your calendar. Your conversations. Your messages. Your heart rate. Even your mood.
In short, this isn’t just a new product; it’s a new way of thinking. It’s a new contract between humans and machines. A promise that in exchange for constant attention and uninterrupted support, users must accept unprecedented levels of access.
This will likely be the broadest consent model in the history of technology. To benefit from the system, users must allow the device to listen, decipher, and analyse their surroundings continuously. Emails, text messages, voice notes, real-time chats — nothing is off-limits if the assistant wants to be truly proactive.
Many users might welcome this change. Why? Because the benefits are enormous. Imagine a device that detects your frustration during a meeting and silently suggests rescheduling the next one. Or that hears your cough and offers you health advice. Or that observes your silence and suggests composing a response to a difficult email.
This technology isn’t passive AI. It’s participatory intelligence. But it also means the barrier to adoption isn’t hardware — it’s trust.
Battery Life Breakthrough
One of the most pressing technical issues with such a device is its power requirements. A phone might last a day, a laptop, maybe two (thanks to Apple Silicon and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips). But a truly portable AI assistant should last for days.
The good news is that things are starting to fall into place.
Low-power AI cores are becoming more efficient. Specialised silicon optimised for always-on speech recognition and local inference can operate for extended periods without the need for bulky batteries. Wireless charging and modular battery accessories can extend battery life without sacrificing design.
Apple’s recent patents for “wearable loop” devices envision a flexible, sensor-rich form factor with haptics, microphones, and dynamic feedback, all in a design that’s easy to wear or store. These loop-style wearables could change shape or offer modular functionality, expanding the range of uses while remaining lightweight and power-efficient.
In other words, the engineering challenge isn’t insurmountable. What matters is how easily power, sensors, and AI can be integrated into something people want to use or carry.
Tipping Point for Interaction Sam Altman
The success or failure of this next device will likely hinge on one decisive factor: behaviour change.
Altman and Ive aren’t just building a new product. They’re trying to create a new set of habits, replacing 15 years of swiping, tapping, and scrolling with something more natural and human.
Instead of unlocking your phone and searching in the search bar, you ask out loud, “What’s new about my flight?” Instead of looking at your calendar, you mumble, “Can I reschedule something for today?”
Instead of scrolling through the news, you listen to a low-key summary of what’s important to you and ignore the rest.
The problem, of course, is cultural. People aren’t just attached to their phones. They’re addicted to the dopamine rush of notifications, the convenience of visual control, and the illusion of productivity. Replacing that with something voice-activated, proactive, and screenless isn’t just a UI refresh; it’s a transformation. It’s a psychological reboot.
But if it works, it might feel less like using a computer and more like having an invisible butler who understands you.
The Future Hums, Not Glows Sam Altman
Interestingly, Apple’s WWDC 2025 passed without any hints of any dedicated computing devices despite rising industry expectations.
While Apple unveiled major software updates, such as the “Apple Intelligence” platform and Continuity features, it avoided revealing anything that would compete with new screenless AI devices, like the Humane Pin or Meta’s smart glasses.
But Apple may still be laying the groundwork behind the scenes. A recent patent describes a flexible, loop-shaped wearable device equipped with sensors, microphones, and haptic technology that could serve as a stealthy AI companion. The design hints at Apple’s potential long-term interest in spatial computing, even if a product isn’t imminent.
In contrast, Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s team is moving forward with bold ambitions to offer an always-on AI device that dispenses with traditional displays and uses continuous context sensing.
Apple’s reticence may reflect a cautious approach to user trust, battery life, and privacy, but it could also risk being left behind if a competitor defines the category first.
My main question is whether Apple’s slow, privacy-focused strategy will prove smarter in the long run or whether it will miss out while others shape the future of ambient AI. For now, the race is in the hands of those outside Cupertino, and OpenAI may be the first to win.
Let’s face it: in a world where AI is no longer confined to keyboards and screens, the next revolution may not come from what we see but from what we barely perceive.
A Device That Anticipates You
OpenAI’s next wearable — or ambient device, companion, or whatever you want to call it — could well be the beginning of this shift. If successful, it will mark the moment when computing stops demanding our attention and starts supporting it, when we move from interacting with technology to living with it. It won’t happen overnight, and the risks, especially those related to privacy, surveillance, and overdependence, will be real. The decision to choose such a device will require a profound and complete level of trust, which I’m not yet convinced most consumers will be willing to make unless the benefits are equally compelling.
But if Sam Altman and Jony Ive get it right, the smartphone could one day be like today’s typewriter: sleek, iconic, and fundamentally outdated.
Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, when someone asks you, “Where’s your phone?” you’ll smile and say, “I don’t use it anymore.”
Because by then you won’t need it anymore. The device — small, ambient, and always alert — will already be with you. Not in your hand or pocket but in your environment. Listening. Learning. Anticipating.
If I’m right, this invisible companion won’t just change the way we compute, but it will change what computation is. You won’t have to ask. It will already know.