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Sam Altman Found Another Kingdom For OpenAI to Conquer

Austin Smith

Published: September 30, 2024 9:10 am

Key Points:

• John Ive, former Apple design head, is partnering with OpenAI to develop an AI-based hardware product.
• The collaboration could disrupt consumer electronics, drawing parallels to how Microsoft and Google expanded into hardware.
• Speculation suggests involvement from other tech leaders like Elon Musk, indicating the product’s potential significance across multiple industries.
• Also: The smart money is already looking at The Next Nvidia as the best investment today.

Lee and Doug discuss the partnership between John Ive, the iconic designer behind many Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) products, and OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, to develop an AI-based hardware product. They speculate on the potential of this product, considering it could range from a phone to a standalone device, and the implications this could have for the market. They also draw parallels with how companies like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) successfully transitioned from software to hardware, suggesting that this could be a similar playbook. The conversation touches on the broader implications for industries such as automobiles and space travel, speculating that figures like Elon Musk might also be involved.

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Edited Video Transcript:

Yeah.

John Ive, who most people don’t know, but was Steve Jobs’ partner, basically, at iPhone.

He was in charge of designing all the iconic designs that you see today.

All those products were done by him.

He has apparently started a partnership with OpenAI.

And, you know, the people they’re working on an AI-based hardware product.

Now, you know, that’s in the newspapers, not sure what it means.

But once you start to talk about AI-based hardware, now you’re talking about, you know, Apple at the top of that list.

Yeah.

But also, if you walk into a consumer electronics store, there are a whole bunch of things.

If you had AI-driven hardware, you could disintermediate a whole bunch of products.

Yeah, and I think it’s interesting that Sam Altman is working with Ive to create this AI hardware product.

What will it be?

Will it be some sort of phone?

Will it be like a laptop?

Or something like that?

Or will it be a standalone item that you, you know, plug into?

I think it’s really interesting, and it’s going to show you the move that the AI market’s going to take.

Because the chips will continue to get bigger and better and have more capacity.

You know, as we’ve discussed, you know, in the past with where at certain levels of productivity, the AI chip from AMD is actually better than NVIDIA’s, but not at lower levels.

But I think it’s going to be interesting to see because Altman’s right there.

He’s right there with what’s going on.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere Musk is in the mix here because of his involvement with ChatGPT and all that in the past.

It reminds me in many ways of Microsoft and Google.

Microsoft is a software company.

I know they had a gaming division.

But Microsoft decided to get into the hardware business.

They tried to get into the, you know, hardware business with smartphones, like before most people were born.

But the Surface, the Surface PCs that Microsoft sells right now do extremely well.

It’s not an unimportant part of Microsoft’s sales.

No, it’s good.

And then Google, you know, now they’re selling Pixel phones.

So this playbook, I want to call it a playbook, of being in the software industry and deciding to, in essence, get into the hardware industry because you see there’s another kingdom over there for you to conquer.

Yeah.

This is not a new playbook.

Well, and you’ve got to think that…

You know, such an incredible innovator like Ive and Altman.

You have to think that they’re talking with somebody else, you know, to do this product for or with.

I mean, who is it?

Is it Musk?

Is it Tesla?

Is it, you know, something will be developed for automobiles?

Is it going to be developed for, you know, space travel?

You know, what will it be for?

But you’re a hundred percent correct there because Google has been able to stay in the market with the Pixel.

It doesn’t do huge, but it, you know, it probably pays for itself.

And, like you said, the Surface has this ancillary sort of deal with the NFL.

You know, because that’s what they’re always using on the sidelines.

Yeah.

Even if they want to throw them on the ground and break them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like Tom Brady did.

But so, yeah, I mean that kind of tacit sort of constant endorsement.

I’m sure people have gone out and said, I don’t like my iPad that much.

Let me try a Surface that all the football players seem to like it.

Yeah.