The $6.5 Billion AI Hardware War: Jony Ive vs. the Upstarts He Hates

When Design Legend Meets Disruption—and Disappointment

In a Silicon Valley clash of titans and underdogs, Apple’s former design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are quietly assembling a $6.5 billion AI hardware project slated for 2026. The partnership, between Ive’s startup io and OpenAI, aims to redefine how humans interact with artificial intelligence. But Ive isn’t mincing words about the competition: He’s called 2023’s buzzy Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1 “very poor products,” accusing them of recycling old ideas instead of pushing boundaries.

“Great design solves problems people don’t yet realize they have,” Ive told WIRED in an off-record briefing. “These devices? They’re answering questions nobody asked.”

The criticism stung Rabbit founder Jesse Lyu, who publicly called Ive his “hero” but bristled at being lumped with Humane—a company that shuttered its AI Pin operations after HP’s acquisition earlier this year. “Comparing us to Humane isn’t fair,” Lyu argued. “We’re still here, still iterating.” Indeed, Rabbit continues updating the R1, recently adding a memory log feature and teasing rabbitOS 2.0 while offering free trials of its AI OS, Intern.

The Ghost of AI Hardware Past

Initial reviews of both the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1 were brutal. Tech influencers mocked the Pin’s sluggish responses and overheating issues, while the R1 was dismissed as a “glorified smartphone accessory.” Yet Rabbit persists, leaning into its underdog status. “We don’t have $6.5 billion,” Lyu admitted, “but competition fuels innovation. I’d love to see what Jony builds.”

“$6.5 billion buys a lot of titanium,” joked one industry insider. “But can it buy magic?”

For now, the battlefield is littered with cautionary tales. Humane’s rapid rise and fall—from $230 million in funding to HP’s fire-sale acquisition—serves as a stark reminder of AI hardware’s pitfalls. Meanwhile, Ive and Altman’s mystery project looms, promising a “post-smartphone” future. Whether it’ll learn from—or simply outspend—its predecessors remains the billion-dollar question.

One thing’s certain: In the race to build the next iconic device, there’s no room for “very poor products.” Not when $6.5 billion is watching.