OpenAI, which is pushing into the hardware market, is expected to unveil a portable artificial intelligence (AI) speaker as its first product.
Bloomberg News reported on the 15th, citing sources, that OpenAI is developing a "screenless portable smart speaker" designed as a new type of home computer.
The device is designed to live with users in their homes and serve as an AI companion. It is said to offer key features of ChatGPT, including smart home device control, media playback, answering questions, and responding to messages.
OpenAI also plans to implement features that predict users' needs to provide information first and offer advice like a subject-matter expert. The goal is to give ChatGPT a physical form and make it a device that communicates naturally with users. For voice interaction, OpenAI's ChatGPT voice mode released this month, "GPT Live," is expected to be used.
OpenAI's hardware division is currently developing five products and plans to release the portable smart speaker first. It aims to unveil the product this year and officially launch it next year. Ultimately, the company envisions developing a mobile AI device that can replace smartphones.
If OpenAI's push into the hardware market materializes, competition with existing information technology (IT) corporations such as Apple, Amazon, and Google is expected to intensify. Legal disputes with Apple have already surfaced during development.
Apple last week filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against OpenAI and two former Apple employees who moved to OpenAI, alleging theft of trade secrets, among other claims. However, sources said OpenAI denies the possibility of trade secret misappropriation, arguing that this device is different from products Apple currently sells.