OpenAI, the maker of generative AI platform ChatGPT, is in advanced talks with former Apple design chief Jony Ive and SoftBank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son to create the “iPhone of artificial intelligence”.
Development of the product will be bankrolled by $1 billion from the Japanese investment holding company, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing sources.
Terms of the potential investment, as well as the timeline for the development of the product, remain unclear.
Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, tapped design studio LoveFrom, which Mr Ive started after stepping down from his high-profile role as Apple's chief design officer in 2019.
The Information this week had also reported some aspects of the product discussions.
Mr Altman and Mr Ive have held talks at the San Francisco-based studio on how the product would look and how OpenAI's technology would fit in it, the sources said.
They are looking at creating a product that is “more natural and intuitive” for users, allowing a seamless experience when interacting with AI, they said.
The iPhone was groundbreaking and pioneered a new market for mobile devices, having removed the physical keyboard in favour of an all-touch interface.
The type of device to be created and its design remain at an early stage, with many different ideas and options being considered, the sources said.
Smartphones have revolutionised mobile communications and advancements have made them even more powerful and useful. However, the industry has been stagnating, with shipments set to drop to their lowest levels in a decade, Counterpoint Research said last month.
Having a new and unique product could help revive the market, and could challenge the dominance of Apple and Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer, as well as other mainstays.
The grand designs of Jonny Ive
Mr Ive being on board OpenAI's project would be a huge boost for its consumer device plans.
Mr Ive was a close creative collaborator with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
He spent more than two decades at the tech company and led the design of the coloured iMacs that helped Apple re-emerge from near death in the 1990s as well as the design of the iPhone.
Mr Ive also had a hand in designing parts of the iOS user interface, as well as buildings including the company's Apple Park headquarters in California and Apple Stores.
He left Apple in 2019 and co-founded design firm LoveFrom with fellow designer Marc Newson. LoveFrom, which describes itself as a “creative collective”, has clients such as Airbnb and Ferrari.
Tokyo-based SoftBank, meanwhile, is a major player in technology investment.
The company and its tech-focused Vision Fund have made nearly 160 investments, data from CB Insights shows.
Among the companies in SoftBank's investment portfolio are China's Alibaba Group, chipmakers Nvidia and Arm, Uber Technologies, TikTok parent ByteDance and Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart.
SoftBank has been looking for deals in AI, including a potential investment in OpenAI, after the blockbuster listing of its Arm unit, the FT reported earlier this month, adding that Mr Son was looking to invest tens of billions of dollars in the technology.
The success of OpenAI, the parent company of the wildly popular chatbot ChatGPT, has prompted companies such as Microsoft and Alphabet to pour billions of dollars into investing in the technology.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
Abramovich London
A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.
A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.
Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.
Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.
Lampedusa: Gateway to Europe
Pietro Bartolo and Lidia Tilotta
Quercus
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company%20profile
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
De De Pyaar De
Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
|
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Skoda Superb Specs
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Planes grounded by coronavirus
British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30
Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Ai Seoul: Suspended all flights to China
Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March
Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February
South Korea's Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air: Suspend all flights
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
