Sam Altman-led OpenAI has removed all references to “io,” the hardware startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive , from its website and social media. The move comes shortly after OpenAI announced a $6.5 billion deal to acquire the startup and build dedicated AI hardware. Sharing the news on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) with a link to the announcement blog post, the company said “This page is temporarily down due to a court order following a trademark complaint from iyO about our use of the name “io.” We don’t agree with the complaint and are reviewing our options.”
Following the removal, the original blog post and a nine-minute video featuring Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are no longer available online. In the deleted post, Altman and Ive had stated: “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.”
OpenAI has not commented further on the status of the trademark dispute or when the content might be restored. But in a statement to The Verge, OpenAI confirmed that the deal is still in place.
On May 21, 2025, OpenAI formally announced it would acquire io, a relatively new AI devices company founded by Jony Ive, the former Chief Design Officer of Apple. The acquisition is valued at $6.4 billion, paid entirely in equity. Importantly, this amount includes OpenAI’s earlier investment in io, effectively consolidating its prior financial and strategic interest into full ownership. This deal represents OpenAI’s largest acquisition to date, dwarfing previous deals such as the $3 billion acquisition of coding assistant platform Windsurf and the purchase of Rockset, a real-time analytics startup.
Following the removal, the original blog post and a nine-minute video featuring Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are no longer available online. In the deleted post, Altman and Ive had stated: “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.”
OpenAI has not commented further on the status of the trademark dispute or when the content might be restored. But in a statement to The Verge, OpenAI confirmed that the deal is still in place.
On May 21, 2025, OpenAI formally announced it would acquire io, a relatively new AI devices company founded by Jony Ive, the former Chief Design Officer of Apple. The acquisition is valued at $6.4 billion, paid entirely in equity. Importantly, this amount includes OpenAI’s earlier investment in io, effectively consolidating its prior financial and strategic interest into full ownership. This deal represents OpenAI’s largest acquisition to date, dwarfing previous deals such as the $3 billion acquisition of coding assistant platform Windsurf and the purchase of Rockset, a real-time analytics startup.
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