OpenAI’s new phone expected to launch quickly next year, report says

Last week, Ming-Chi Kuo announced that OpenAI’s hardware ambitions now include a smartphone to directly compete with the iPhone. And a new update from Kuo suggests the company is moving even faster than expected to launch the first OpenAI phone.

OpenAI’s iPhone competitor now aims for 2027 launch

Ming-Chi Kuo, writing on X:

OpenAI appears to be ramping up its first AI agent phone, with mass production planned as early as 1H27. Potential factors include support for a year-end IPO narrative and intensifying competition in the AI ​​agent phone space. MediaTek currently appears better positioned to become the sole processor supplier, with the device set to use a custom version of the Dimensity 9600, built on TSMC’s N2P node during 2H26. ISP is the main spec, with an improved HDR pipeline improving real-world visual detection. Other key specifications include a dual NPU architecture for heterogeneous AI computing, LPDDR6 + UFS 5.0 to reduce memory bottlenecks, and pKVM + inline hashing for security. If development remains on track, combined shipments between 2027 and 2028 could reach around 30 million units.

If mass production of the OpenAI phone can happen in the first half of 2027, a public launch in the fall would likely be the goal.

Launching a smartphone next year seems extremely ambitious. OpenAI has been working on hardware devices for a while, but the pivot to creating a smartphone seems very recent.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently hinted at the company’s phone project. He said last week that now is the time to “seriously rethink how operating systems and user interfaces are designed.”

The company is working with Jony Ive, Apple’s longtime head of design, on its suite of hardware devices.

I seemed reluctant to see the smartphone again. Instead, public comments indicated that it wanted to undo some of the societal damage caused by smartphones with its next wave of hardware designs. But we can assume that Ive is heavily involved in OpenAI’s phone project.

Are you interested in an OpenAI smartphone and do you think a 2027 launch is possible? Let us know in the comments.

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