OpenAI Enters Hardware with a Screenless Smart Speaker
OpenAI’s first hardware device is reported to be a mobile smart speaker with integrated AI capabilities that can sync with ChatGPT and provide other home AI services. According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, the device—still under development—is designed to be screen-free and is being pitched internally as a “humanlike AI companion that lives in the home.”
OpenAI has long claimed that it wants to launch a hardware product, with some rumors suggesting it might launch its own phone—a move that would put it in direct competition with Apple. This newly surfaced device sounds like a departure from traditional smart speakers.
Device Features and Capabilities
Sources described the device to Bloomberg as having a “personality” and being able to proactively learn about its owner over time, providing more personalized service. The machine would have access to a user’s digital life, drawing off things like emails, sources said.
The device is described as involving “mechanical elements that can move on their own.” The Bloomberg report includes the detail that the device is designed to “feel like a companion and become a physical manifestation of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.”
Image Credits: Benjamin Fanjoy / Getty Images
Development and Team
The device was developed with help from many former Apple engineers who were instrumental in creating products such as the iPhone and Mac, Bloomberg writes. OpenAI may be attempting to launch a new hardware line, but the company is currently facing hardware-related legal problems.
Legal Challenges and Lawsuit
Apple is suing OpenAI, accusing the AI company of stealing its trade secrets. Apple further claimed that the allegations involved in the suit are merely “the tip of the iceberg” and that more misconduct will be revealed during the legal discovery process. OpenAI has denied wrongdoing.
Citing anonymous sources with knowledge of OpenAI’s plans, Bloomberg writes that the company feels its new product “veers significantly from anything Apple has on the market today” and that it is “unlikely that it violates trade secrets” belonging to Apple.
Broader AI Hardware Landscape
OpenAI’s push comes as the tech world grows more excited about consumer AI hardware more broadly. Hark, an AI lab founded by Brett Adcock, raised an oversubscribed $700 million Series A back in May at a valuation to build what it calls “personal intelligence”—proprietary AI models paired with custom hardware designed as a “universal interface between humans and machines.” The company hasn’t yet detailed its device’s form factor, underscoring how much capital is chasing this category even before products ship.
Topics: OpenAI, Apple, AI, Hardware, Smart Speaker, Hark, Robotics
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Lucas Ropek – Senior Writer, TechCrunch