What Is OpenAI's First-Ever Hardware Device? A Doughnut-Shaped Speaker That Costs Over $300

OpenAI's long-awaited hardware device has taken a clearer shape. According to Bloomberg, the product will be shaped like a doughnut roughly the size of a hockey puck, with moving parts intended to give it personality, and is expected to cost more than $300. The device is essentially a smart speaker without a display, designed to be easy to carry around the home with one hand.

Design, materials and pricing

The device is being developed in partnership with LoveFrom, the design studio founded by former longtime Apple chief design officer Jony Ive, whose io hardware startup OpenAI acquired for $6.5 billion to push into hardware. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who broke the story, said the speaker will have moving parts meant to give it 'personality,' along with speaker grilles and other interactive elements. OpenAI is aiming for a 'premium look' built from upscale materials including high-quality metal, with pricing discussed in the $300 to $400 range - notably above most existing smart speakers, whose Amazon lineup currently spans roughly $40 to $240.

Cameras, sensors and an 'AI-first computer'

Beyond audio, the device is expected to pack in more sensing hardware than a typical speaker. Reports point to a camera system and additional sensors, allowing the AI to factor awareness of its physical surroundings into its responses. OpenAI is reportedly positioning the product as an 'AI-first computer' rather than a conventional voice assistant, capable of natural, ongoing conversation similar to ChatGPT's revamped voice experience. According to SiliconANGLE's account of the Bloomberg report, the device is being built to 'work in different positions,' such as being held in someone's hand or set down on furniture around the house, with the moving parts meant to make it feel 'more alive.' A lighting system will also show when the device is listening.

Launch timeline

The product is slated for a 2027 release, and OpenAI is described as still developing it despite having originally planned to unveil the device this year ahead of that commercial launch.

The Apple legal backdrop

The device's development is unfolding alongside an active legal dispute with Apple. Apple has sued OpenAI claiming the company misled an Apple supplier into developing a metal-finishing technique similar to the one Apple uses, and has requested an injunction that could delay the product's launch if granted. OpenAI filed a motion to dismiss the suit on August 5, arguing it is building something "entirely new and different from any Apple product," with an internal investigation concluding the device does not draw on Apple's trade secrets.