OpenAI Said to Be Making Phone With AI Agents to Replace Apps
As OpenAI Facing a major legal threat to its future from Elon Musk, the company behind ChatGPT is reportedly pursuing its expanded hardware ambitions.
The company had previously been linked to a possible release of AI earbuds later this year or early 2027, but is now reportedly working on a smartphone in partnership with component makers MediaTek, Qualcomm and Luxshare. Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported on X over the weekend that MediaTek and Qualcomm would help design a smartphone chip for the device, while Luxshare would act as a co-design and manufacturing partner.
Most high-end Android phones released in 2026 will use either Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chips or MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 chips. So it makes sense that OpenAI would tap into the companies that make processors for many of the high-end phones that come out every year.
For years, MediaTek and Qualcomm have envisioned AI agents as the future of how people will use their phones, handling tasks across multiple apps for you. AI agents would be at the heart of OpenAI’s smartphone, Kuo said, eliminating the need for separate apps.
“Users aren’t trying to use an application stack,” Kuo said. “They’re trying to get their tasks done and their needs met through the phone. This is fundamentally changing the way people think about smartphones.”
OpenAI’s hardware ambitions include a high-profile partnership with former Apple designer Jony Ive. A recent rumor said that the devices could include one worn on the earbut that OpenAI could have up to five different devices ready by the end of 2028.
At the same time, OpenAI reportedly tried to reduce so-called “side quests.” delete your Sora video generator and put a ChatGPT planned “adult mode” on break for the benefit of a “super app” more focused on productivity intended to be built around the Codex coding tool.
Read also: ChatGPT Images 2: Why OpenAI built a new image model after killing Sora
Kuo said specifications and suppliers for the alleged smartphone are expected to be finalized by the end of the year or the first quarter of 2027, with production expected in 2028.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, filed a lawsuit in April 2025 against OpenAI, alleging that it had violated Ziff Davis’ copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.)
