OpenAI Aims to Offer AI Access Through ‘Ambient Computer Layer,’ Without Screens

OpenAI reportedly sees an opportunity for artificial intelligence (AI) to move beyond web browsers and mobile apps.

The company’s chief operating officer, Brad Lightcap, said OpenAI wants to build an “ambient computer layer” that doesn’t require users to look at a screen, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday (May 29).

Speaking at WSJ’s Future of Everything event, Lightcap said that OpenAI aims to build AI that is “truly personal” and that he has “no idea” what OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is working on with former Apple designer Jony Ive, whose company is being acquired by OpenAI.

Ive’s company, io, is an AI device startup created in the spring of 2024 with Apple designers Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan, PYMNTS reported May 21.

OpenAI said it is acquiring io for just under $6.5 billion and that io will become the devices division at OpenAI, led by Peter Welinder, who will report to Altman.

When announcing the acquisition, Altman said he believes there is a better way to access AI than having to turn on a computer, open a web browser, go to ChatGPT’s website, type in a query and wait for an answer.

“I think we have the opportunity here to kind of completely reimagine what it means to use a computer,” Altman said.

Io plans to show “what they’ve been working on” in 2026.

It was reported in October 2023 that Altman was interested in developing a hardware project that aims to create a more natural way to interact with AI and that he planned to work with Ive, who designed Apple’s iPhone as well as many other iconic tech products.

That report noted that the iPhone and App Store not only transformed the way the world uses smartphones, but also had a profound impact on business and pricing models.

During Thursday’s WSJ event, Lightcap also said that OpenAI now has 3 million enterprise customers, up from 2 million in February, according to the WSJ report.

Lightcap also said OpenAI is working with the California State University System to help it become the country’s first “first AI-powered university system,” per the report.