Credit: OpenAI
- A blog post announcing OpenAI’s $6.5B acquisition of Jony Ive’s hardware startup “io” has been taken down due to a court order stemming from a trademark complaint by a company called iyO.
- OpenAI clarified that despite speculation, the partnership with Ive is still ongoing, and it’s exploring options regarding the name dispute.
- iyO, which already sells an AI-powered “audio computer,” claims the “io” name infringes on their trademark.
All traces of OpenAI’s much-hyped hardware venture with legendary Apple designer Jony Ive have suddenly disappeared due to a court order triggered by a trademark complaint. A blog post that once sat prominently on OpenAI’s website was pulled without warning, briefly showing a 404 error (h/t Max Weinbach). Naturally, this sparked speculation that the partnership between Sam Altman’s OpenAI and Ive had fallen apart. But the company has since clarified that’s not the case.