OpenAI Abandons ‘io’ Branding for Its AI Hardware
OpenAI won’t do it use the name “io” for its upcoming line of AI hardware devices, according to a court filing Monday.
The motion is part of a trademark infringement lawsuit filed last year by audio device startup iyO, which sued OpenAI after acquiring famed Apple designer Jony Ive’s io startup. Peter Welinder, vice president and general manager of OpenAI, said in the filing that OpenAI had reviewed its product naming strategy and “decided not to use the name ‘io’ (or ‘IYO,’ or any capitalization of either) in connection with the naming, advertising, marketing, or sale of any hardware product based on artificial intelligence.”
Welinder also said OpenAI now has a better understanding of the timetable for bringing its devices to market. In the filing, the company said its first hardware device would not ship to customers until the end of February 2027.
Previously, OpenAI announced plans to unveil its AI device in the second half of 2026. The company’s first prototype would be a screenless device that could sit on a user’s desk and accompany a phone and laptop. Welinder also said OpenAI has not yet created any packaging or marketing materials for its first hardware device, according to the filing.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
The news comes as wild rumors continue to spread about OpenAI’s hardware efforts. A now-debunked Reddit thread went viral over the weekend claiming that OpenAI had released a Super Bowl ad unveiling its next device. Someone posted the purported ad, in which actor Alexander Skarsgård wore a pair of silver headphones and tapped on a reflective puck. The video was widely shared on social media, including by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
OpenAI spokesperson Lindsay McCallum confirmed to WIRED that the creator of ChatGPT had nothing to do with the ad in question.
OpenAI announced in May 2025 that it would acquire Jony Ive’s secretive consumer hardware subsidiary for $6.5 billion, which would be the company’s largest acquisition ever. At the time, io was marketed as a new company that would merge with OpenAI to create a family of AI devices.
Since then, the company has been embroiled in a complicated trademark infringement lawsuit that likely revealed more than OpenAI would have liked about its devices. iyO says OpenAI and io executives met with iyO executives and tested the company’s AI audio technology before the acquisition was announced.
OpenAI executives previously revealed in documents related to this lawsuit that the prototype CEO Sam Altman mentioned in io’s launch video was “neither an in-ear device nor a wearable device.”
