Technologies

What to Expect (and Not Expect) From OpenAI and Jony Ive’s AI-Centric ‘Screenless Phone’

Here’s everything we know so far about the mysterious upcoming AI device from the iPhone designer and creator of ChatGPT.

AI is coming for your phones — this you know by now and maybe you’ve already experienced it for yourself in the form of Apple Intelligence or Google’s Gemini.

But OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT and perhaps the biggest name in AI software and services right now, is making a different bet. It’s looking beyond the traditional smartphone and thinking about how AI might reinvent our devices altogether.

On Wednesday, the company announced that it had bought Jony Ive’s device startup IO for $6.5 billion. Together, Ive and Altman are building something new — a device unlike anything we’ve owned before, with AI at its core.

«It became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company,» the pair said in a statement about their working relationship. «The IO team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco.»

Ive is the visionary veteran Apple designer, who together with Steve Jobs created the iPhone, along with a long list of Apple devices. Now he’s turned his attention to creating a fresh device category, which has clearly piqued the interest of Altman. Ive’s startup has reportedly been working on a «screenless phone» — although other reports suggest it’s actually not a phone at all.

Rumors of this mysterious AI-focused device have been circulating for months but Ive and Altman are keeping a tight lid on the details, fearing that a competitor may try to beat them to market.

So, for now, we’ll just have to imagine.

The obvious existing point of comparison is the Humane AI Pin, an AI-specific device designed to be worn clipped to your collar. It launched to much fanfare in February 2024, but turned out to be a spectacular failure, creating a lasting air of pessimism around the entire idea of AI devices.

«It is unsurprising that there is skepticism about this type of product, particularly in the context of the high-profile failure of the Humane AI, which captured the imagination of tech enthusiasts, including me, but turned out to be a classic example of over-promising and under-delivering,» said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight.

The combination of Ive and Altman though, is full of potential. «It would be foolish to bet against Jony Ive, given his remarkable track record of delivering products that disrupt a market,» said Wood.

«I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,» Ive said in a YouTube video in which the pair talk about their friendship.

Their challenge, says Thoman Husson, VP principal analyst at Forrester, «is not just to use AI to enhance existing tasks, but to invent new products and experiences.»

That said, OpenAI’s ambitions for its AI devices are that it’s able to ship 100 million units — a bold bet for a software company entering the hardware space for the first time, with no pre-established supply chain.

«Jony Ive is an exceptional designer but smartphones (and hardware) is a volume play about scale and scope,» said Husson. «I think Apple is still best placed to win this marathon race.»

A wearable? Glasses? A phone? Perhaps not

In the absence of any substantial hints or clues, we remain for now in the dark as to what this first piece of OpenAI hardware will look like, how it will function and how it will fit into our lives.

There’s been some speculation, based largely on claims made by reliable Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo, that the OpenAI device will be a wearable. In a social media post, Kuo said the io product was designed to be worn around the neck and was «as compact and elegant as an iPod Shuffle.»

This would indicate that Altman and Ive are taking a different approach to Meta, which has gone all in on smart glasses. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the glasses are the ultimate AI device, because of their ability to receive and deliver information in close proximity to your eyes and and ears.

But we should also be prepared for the possibility that Altman and Ive’s device isn’t a wearable at all. According to the Wall Street Journal, Altman said Ive was skeptical about the idea of AI wearables, making it sound unlikely that he would embrace them as part of this project.

Citing a briefing given by Altman to OpenAI employees, the WSJ reports that the device «will be unobtrusive, able to rest in one’s pocket or on one’s desk, and will be a third core device a person would put on a desk after a MacBook Pro and an iPhone.»

It’s curious to see the OpenAI screenless phone being discussed this way, almost as if it falls within Apple’s specific family of products. The WSJ said Altman is envisaging in the long term «a family of devices,» which will be defined by what Ive described as «a new design movement.»

Perhaps the only thing we know for sure about this product is that it won’t come with a screen. Altman has been critical of the amount of time we spend looking at screens — but is there room on the market for devices that tempt us away from our screens? «Except smartwatches, no new product category has emerged since the smartphone,» said Husson. «There is room for disruption and innovation.»

This not-a-phone, not-a-wearable currently exists to us only as an amorphous third thing — and likely will do for some time yet. Keep checking back for more rumors and updates, which we will add as we get more information about what kind of device may rule our lives in the near future, just as the smartphone does today.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, May 25

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 25.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword isn’t too tough. I was stumped right away though, with 1-Across, but when I read it to my teen daughter, she knew it immediately. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Good for a bike route, bad for a bike tire
Answer: FLAT

5A clue: Rolling in it
Answer: RICH

6A clue: Internet company with a purple logo
Answer: YAHOO

8A clue: McIlroy who won the 2025 Masters
Answer: RORY

9A clue: Mumford & ___ (rock band)
Answer: SONS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Food item dipped in ketchup
Answer: FRY

2D clue: Apt rhyme of «falsifiers»
Answer: LIARS

3D clue: Sneezing sound
Answer: ACHOO

4D clue: Plant’s defense against herbivores, perhaps
Answer: THORN

7D clue: Yiddish exclamations of woe
Answer: OYS

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 25, #244

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 244, for May 25.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

The purple category in Connections: Sports Edition today is about the biggest sports event of the day. You probably know what it is. Hint: Get behind the wheel in the Hoosier State. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Get your racket.

Green group hint: Pac Northwest player.

Blue group hint: Blow that fastball past the hitter.

Purple group hint: Gentlemen, start your engines.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Tennis grand slams.

Green group: An Oregon athlete

Blue group: Pitchers to strike out 20 in one game.

Purple group: Associated with the Indy 500.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tennis grand slams. The four answers are Australian, French, US, Wimbledon.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is an Oregon athlete. The four answers are Duck, Thorn, Timber and Trail Blazer.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is pitchers to strike out 20 in one game. The four answers are Clemens, Johnson, Scherzer and Wood.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with the Indy 500. The four answers are bricks, cars, Memorial Day weekend and milk.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 25, #448

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 448 for May 25.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle plays on something many people do this time of year. Not me — though I probably should. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Get out the dust buster!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Sweep out the corners.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

PORT, RUNT, BEAD, GALE, LAID, DIAL, DALE, LINE, TUNE, TUNES, RUNG, TREE.

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: