OpenAI is reportedly building a compact, doughnut‑shaped smart speaker that could soon sit on nightstands and kitchen counters across the United States. The device, priced between $300 and $400, is designed to be fully portable, running on an internal battery that lets it move from room to room without the need for a wall outlet.
A Design Led by Jony Ive
The speaker’s exterior is crafted from premium metal and features a smooth, hockey‑puck silhouette that conceals a ring of microphones, environmental sensors and a set of tiny moving parts. These components give the unit a subtle personality, allowing it to react to conversations with animated acknowledgment lights and fluid visual cues that ripple across its surface.
Inside, the hardware is optimized for voice interaction with ChatGPT, delivering real‑time responses that feel conversational rather than canned. The integration of sensors enables the device to detect ambient conditions such as temperature and sound levels, adjusting its behavior to provide a more context‑aware experience.
OpenAI hopes to release the product later this year, with a full commercial launch targeted before 2027. The company emphasizes that the speaker represents a fundamentally new approach to AI‑enabled home devices, distinguishing it from Apple’s upcoming home hub and the HomePod mini.
Legal Tensions and Market Implications
The venture unfolds against the backdrop of Apple’s lawsuit accusing OpenAI of misappropriating trade secrets related to metal‑finishing techniques used in its own smart‑speaker lineup. OpenAI maintains that its design is entirely original and that the lawsuit will not impede its rollout plans.
If the speaker succeeds, it could open a new revenue stream for OpenAI beyond software services and reinforce its ambition to embed conversational AI into everyday objects. The move also intensifies competition in the smart‑home arena, where Apple, Amazon and Google are all vying for dominance with their own voice‑controlled ecosystems.