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That is an insane amount to hire Johnny Ive. Just to signal to the market that OpenAI is getting into hardware, what on earth could they be building towards. Th

That is an insane amount to hire Johnny Ive. Just to signal to the market that OpenAI is getting into hardware, what on earth could they be building towards. They’ve been writing some big checks off late, these costs will have to be justified soon enough.

jodydonetti 1y ago
Acqui-hire startup -> Jony onboard -> new device with OpenAI exclusive features -> Windows Phone is back. /s (kinda)
i_love_cookies 1y ago
[dead]
ljm 1y ago
VCs have too much capital at hand and don't know how to deploy it all. This is on the back of epic wealth inequality. I don't know why Jony Ive is seen to be worth billions, but he's obviously not, he's just another shill in the ivory tower.
- joshstrange 1y ago
  > I don't know why Jony Ive is seen to be worth billions, but he's obviously not. Agreed. If it was the only option it would have been worth it to Apple to pay him billions to _leave_. His last 5-10 years at Apple were marked by him ruining a number of products.
- mountainriver 1y ago
  VCs don’t have a ton of capital on hand right now, interest rates are high, investments are way down
  - SimianSci 1y ago
    Broadly, you're right, but again, there is an incredible amount of inequality at the moment, so while 90% of VCs might be strapped for cash, ther other 10% have so much that they are struggling to find worthy investment vehicles that can grow their money-pile. Its a dillema they are in because nothing can justify the volume of investment enough without a sufficiant potential for growth, so any venture that even hints at big enough return, will find itself flush with cash it wont realistically know what to do with.
  - ljm 1y ago
    I've spoken to a small handful of investors who are all saying they have capital to deploy but don't know where. One of them in particular stepped away from AI but they were seeing OTT valuations for AI startups based on what other VCs were doing.
outside1234 1y ago
Or he thinks OpenAI is really only worth something in the $30B range and he is getting a steal while his currency is hot.
- milkshakes 1y ago
  considering that the deal is "an all-stock" one, that would not be a great bet.
  - outside1234 1y ago
    Its possible for Jony to think that it is worth more while Sam does not. Or Jony to like the $6.5B headline, but realize that he is probably only getting $150M.
owebmaster 1y ago
That's 1% of OpenAI allegedly value
hexator 1y ago
The obvious answer would be some sort of consumer AI assistant, like Siri but better.
- lolinder 1y ago
  This is a bet that's as insane as the Apple car. They're going to try to get people to buy a specialized device from a company that isn't just a software company but really a B2B API company—the only successful consumer-facing product they have ever released was an accident, a tech demo that went viral. And what exactly is that device going to do that the iPhone (and smartphones in general) can't already do with at a minimum a few small tweaks to the existing flagships? In the right context vertical integration can make sense, but hardware is a big stretch for OpenAI right now. They haven't even really pinned down the consumer software angle yet.
- seatac76 1y ago
  I mean for this kind of money and pedigree the obvious answer to me is kill the smartphone level tech. 10 mins I spent watching that weird video in third person dialogue no less, they better deliver something great.
rrauch 1y ago
The first paragraph of the article mentions it's an all-stock deal. No checks where written for this.
mountainriver 1y ago
I love how aggressive Sam is with this stuff. He’s very smart in this arena. I’m all about OpenAI creating new fun things
zhobbs 1y ago
Totally insane, $6.5B acquihire. But also, all stock deal and OpenAI appears to have an unlimited number of investors waiting to give them money if/when needed.
empath75 1y ago
> $6.5 billion all-stock deal It's 6.5 billion in monopoly money. OpenAI has an insane valuation right now, and they're using it to buy stuff with it, as they should.
dbbk 1y ago
They're not hiring Jonny. He's going to take over design, but basically as an independent contractor with LoveFrom.

jodydonetti 1y ago

Acqui-hire startup -> Jony onboard -> new device with OpenAI exclusive features -> Windows Phone is back. /s (kinda)

i_love_cookies 1y ago

[dead]

ljm 1y ago

VCs have too much capital at hand and don't know how to deploy it all. This is on the back of epic wealth inequality. I don't know why Jony Ive is seen to be worth billions, but he's obviously not, he's just another shill in the ivory tower.

joshstrange 1y ago
> I don't know why Jony Ive is seen to be worth billions, but he's obviously not. Agreed. If it was the only option it would have been worth it to Apple to pay him billions to _leave_. His last 5-10 years at Apple were marked by him ruining a number of products.
mountainriver 1y ago
VCs don’t have a ton of capital on hand right now, interest rates are high, investments are way down
- SimianSci 1y ago
  Broadly, you're right, but again, there is an incredible amount of inequality at the moment, so while 90% of VCs might be strapped for cash, ther other 10% have so much that they are struggling to find worthy investment vehicles that can grow their money-pile. Its a dillema they are in because nothing can justify the volume of investment enough without a sufficiant potential for growth, so any venture that even hints at big enough return, will find itself flush with cash it wont realistically know what to do with.
- ljm 1y ago
  I've spoken to a small handful of investors who are all saying they have capital to deploy but don't know where. One of them in particular stepped away from AI but they were seeing OTT valuations for AI startups based on what other VCs were doing.

outside1234 1y ago

Or he thinks OpenAI is really only worth something in the $30B range and he is getting a steal while his currency is hot.

milkshakes 1y ago
considering that the deal is "an all-stock" one, that would not be a great bet.
- outside1234 1y ago
  Its possible for Jony to think that it is worth more while Sam does not. Or Jony to like the $6.5B headline, but realize that he is probably only getting $150M.

owebmaster 1y ago

That's 1% of OpenAI allegedly value

hexator 1y ago

The obvious answer would be some sort of consumer AI assistant, like Siri but better.

lolinder 1y ago
This is a bet that's as insane as the Apple car. They're going to try to get people to buy a specialized device from a company that isn't just a software company but really a B2B API company—the only successful consumer-facing product they have ever released was an accident, a tech demo that went viral. And what exactly is that device going to do that the iPhone (and smartphones in general) can't already do with at a minimum a few small tweaks to the existing flagships? In the right context vertical integration can make sense, but hardware is a big stretch for OpenAI right now. They haven't even really pinned down the consumer software angle yet.
seatac76 1y ago
I mean for this kind of money and pedigree the obvious answer to me is kill the smartphone level tech. 10 mins I spent watching that weird video in third person dialogue no less, they better deliver something great.

rrauch 1y ago

The first paragraph of the article mentions it's an all-stock deal. No checks where written for this.

mountainriver 1y ago

I love how aggressive Sam is with this stuff. He’s very smart in this arena. I’m all about OpenAI creating new fun things

zhobbs 1y ago

Totally insane, $6.5B acquihire. But also, all stock deal and OpenAI appears to have an unlimited number of investors waiting to give them money if/when needed.

empath75 1y ago

> $6.5 billion all-stock deal It's 6.5 billion in monopoly money. OpenAI has an insane valuation right now, and they're using it to buy stuff with it, as they should.

dbbk 1y ago

They're not hiring Jonny. He's going to take over design, but basically as an independent contractor with LoveFrom.