Screenless AI Gives Payments a Blank Slate

OpenAI’s first consumer hardware product is reportedly a portable smart speaker designed to move from room to room and function as a humanlike AI companion that lives in the home, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (July 14), citing people familiar with the matter. The device is still under development and has not been confirmed by OpenAI.

Bloomberg reported that the device is expected to control smart-home appliances, play media, answer questions and respond to messages through natural conversation. A camera and sensors let it perceive its surroundings, and a rechargeable battery enables room-to-room use. The device is also designed to grow more personalized over time, learning its owner’s habits and anticipating needs, according to Bloomberg.

The company plans to unveil the device in the second half of 2026 but has not committed to a sale date, TechCrunch reported. A court filing cited by Built In indicates it will not ship before February 2027. A separate trademark dispute with hearing aid startup iYo means the device will no longer be called “io,” Built In also reported.

Global retail eCommerce is expected to exceed $8 trillion by 2028, Statista projects. Digital advertising is projected to surpass $1 trillion globally in 2026, WARC reported, citing GroupM data. Much of that spending is tied to driving product discovery through screens, and a screenless AI companion that becomes the primary interface for purchases calls both models into question.

As PYMNTS reported, when an AI agent completes a purchase on a consumer’s behalf, the traditional chain of authorization breaks down. There is no human at checkout and no moment where a real person confirms the cart. Identity, authentication, fraud prevention and payment credentials all have to function without anyone navigating a screen.

AI Hardware Category Still Hasn’t Rendered a Single Hit

The device enters a category where failure is the norm. Humane raised $230 million from investors including Sam Altman, launched the AI Pin in April 2024 at $699 discontinued it entirely by February 2025 after returns surpassed purchases between May and August 2024, Dataconomy reported. HP then acquired Humane’s assets for $116 million, a fraction of its peak valuation of up to $1 billion, after fewer than 10,000 units shipped.

Rabbit R1 sold 100,000 units following its debut at CES 2024 and faced widespread criticism after the shipped product failed to match many of its demonstrations, Digital Applied reported. Both products highlighted how difficult it is to convince consumers to adopt a new AI hardware category.

OpenAI has structural advantages its predecessors did not. Its $6.5 billion acquisition of io Products brought in Jony Ive, whose LoveFrom studio is leading the design, along with former Apple engineers who built the iPhone and Mac, Bloomberg reported. The reported design suggests it may compete more directly with home smart speakers than smartphones, a more defined use case than the one that undermined both Humane and Rabbit.

Apple sued OpenAI July 10, alleging trade secrets were used to accelerate device development, Bloomberg reported. OpenAI denied wrongdoing. Analysts said the litigation could complicate OpenAI’s hardware roadmap, the outlet noted.

Screenless Commerce Needs Payments Infrastructure That Does Not Yet Exist

PYMNTS Intelligence found that 45% of U.S. consumers are comfortable with AI agents completing purchases on their behalf, rising to 54% among Gen Z. But 95% report at least one concern and only half say they would trust agentic commerce even with fraud protections were in place.

PYMNTS Intelligence’s May 2026 Consumer AI Benchmark also found in its that tasks involving discovery and comparison emerged as natural fits for AI, while payments and irreversible decisions triggered demand for human oversight.

The reported OpenAI device is designed for exactly the scenarios consumers say they are least ready to delegate. Whether that changes as the device learns a user’s habits over months and builds the context that makes its recommendations feel reliable is the question the product has to answer. Humane and Rabbit could not answer it. OpenAI is betting it can.