OpenAI is planning to unveil its first piece of hardware later this year: a smart speaker that lets users talk directly to ChatGPT. According to a Bloomberg report, the device will skip a screen entirely, relying instead on a camera and sensors to interpret its surroundings. The company aims to ship the gadget in 2027, marking its debut in the physical product space.

The speaker will come with a rechargeable battery for portability and is expected to handle smart home controls, media playback, question answering, and message responses. It will run on GPT-Live, OpenAI’s upgraded voice model announced last week. Bloomberg also describes mechanical elements that can move on their own, designed to make the device feel more human in its interactions. A similar camera-equipped device was previously reported by The Information in February.

The news comes just after Apple filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing hardware trade secrets. OpenAI responded on Tuesday, saying it sees no evidence the complaint has merit. The smart speaker is one of roughly five devices in OpenAI’s broader hardware pipeline, developed in collaboration with former Apple designer Jony Ive following OpenAI’s nearly $6.5 billion acquisition of his design firm, io Products. OpenAI also teased a separate gadget called the Codex Micro, made with Work Louder, set for release on July 15th. The company did not comment on the Bloomberg report.

Source: The Verge