OpenAI’s first consumer hardware product is slowly taking shape, and the latest details make it clear that the company is not simply putting ChatGPT inside another ordinary gadget. Bloomberg reports that OpenAI’s device could have a donut-shaped design, a premium metal body and moving parts, with a possible price of between $300 and $400. The product is being developed with LoveFrom, the design firm founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, and is currently expected to arrive in 2027.
OpenAI has not officially announced the product or confirmed its final specifications. The reason it is being described as an AI speaker comes from earlier reporting about the company’s hardware plans. Those reports have described a screen-free device designed around voice interaction with OpenAI’s AI models. Bloomberg’s latest report adds more details about the physical product, but it does not mean every reported feature is confirmed.
The device is reportedly designed to be small enough to carry around the home. Its donut-like shape would allow users to move it between rooms and place it on a bedside table, kitchen counter or another convenient location. Bloomberg also reports that OpenAI plans to use high-quality metal and give the product a premium appearance. The mention of moving parts is particularly interesting, although there is currently no clear explanation of what they will do.
The reported price makes the product even more interesting. At $300 to $400, OpenAI would be asking consumers to spend considerably more than they do on most traditional smart speakers. Amazon’s Echo range, for example, includes much cheaper devices, while even its more expensive models generally cost less than the price being discussed for OpenAI’s hardware.
That suggests OpenAI is unlikely to position this simply as another speaker for playing music and answering basic questions.
The term “AI speaker” comes from the way the hardware project has been described in earlier reports. OpenAI is reportedly working on a device without a traditional screen that would let people interact with its AI primarily through voice. That naturally puts it in the same broad category as smart speakers, but the intended experience appears to be different from what consumers have become used to with Alexa or other voice assistants.
A conventional smart speaker is largely a collection of voice commands connected to services. You can ask Alexa for the weather, set a timer, play music, or control a smart-home device. OpenAI has a different advantage because its core product is already built around conversational AI. The company could use the same technology to make the device much more capable of handling open-ended conversations and complex requests.
Earlier reporting has also suggested that OpenAI wants its hardware to become more personal over time. Rather than treating every interaction as an isolated request, the device could potentially understand more about its owner, remember useful context, and connect with other parts of their digital life. Smart-home control is another possibility that makes sense for such a product, although OpenAI has not confirmed the final feature set.
This is why calling it an AI companion may eventually make more sense than calling it a smart speaker.
Even if OpenAI does not position the device as an Echo competitor, consumers are likely to make that comparison. Amazon has spent years building Alexa into its hardware ecosystem, and its speakers are already present in millions of homes. The company also has the advantage of offering devices at several price points, so users can put a cheap speaker in one room and add more around the house without spending a lot of money.
OpenAI will not have that advantage at launch if the reported $300 to $400 price is accurate. The company will instead have to sell the idea that its device provides something people cannot get from an existing Echo, phone, or computer. A better conversation with ChatGPT may not be enough on its own. Consumers can already access ChatGPT through their phones, and many smart speakers are also gaining access to newer AI models.
The hardware therefore needs to make the AI more useful, not just make it available in another form.
This is where OpenAI’s hardware plans become more interesting. The company may not be trying to win the smart-speaker market in the traditional sense. It could be trying to create a new way of interacting with computers.
Today, ChatGPT is mostly an app or a website. Users open it when they need it, type a question or start a voice conversation and then close it. A dedicated device could make the AI much more present in everyday life.
Imagine being able to ask about your schedule while getting ready in the morning, continue a conversation while cooking, ask for help with something without picking up your phone or control connected devices using natural language. None of these individual functions are particularly new, but combining them with a conversational AI that understands context could create a different experience.
The reported ability to move the device around the home also fits this idea. Instead of installing a fixed smart speaker in every room, OpenAI could be imagining one personal device that follows the user.
That is still an assumption based on the reported design, not a confirmed feature, but it would give the unusual shape a more practical purpose.
The moving parts are probably the most curious part of the report. A speaker does not normally need mechanical components beyond what is required for audio output. If OpenAI is deliberately adding movement to the device, there could be a user-interface reason behind it.
A screen-free AI product has a problem that phones and smart displays do not. Users cannot see what it is doing. It has to communicate through sound, lights, or physical movement.
A moving component could allow the device to react to the person speaking to it. It could turn toward the user, change position or provide some physical indication that it is listening or responding. That could make the product feel more like a physical AI companion.
But this is also where OpenAI needs to be careful. At $400, consumers will expect every unusual hardware feature to have a clear purpose. If the movement is mostly there to make the device look futuristic, it could become an expensive gimmick.
There are also reports and speculation around cameras and other sensors, but those details should be treated cautiously until OpenAI officially reveals the product. Adding cameras to an always-connected AI device would make it considerably more capable, but it would also introduce serious privacy concerns.
The price could ultimately decide whether this product works. OpenAI has a huge advantage because ChatGPT already has a large user base. The company does not have to introduce people to AI from scratch. Many potential buyers already know how ChatGPT works and may be interested in having it available without reaching for a phone.
But familiarity with ChatGPT does not automatically create a reason to buy dedicated hardware.
A $400 device will be competing not only with Alexa speakers, but also with smartphones, tablets, laptops and increasingly capable AI features built directly into those products. A consumer could simply use ChatGPT on an existing device and avoid spending hundreds of dollars.
OpenAI therefore needs to offer something that a phone cannot provide as easily. A more persistent AI assistant, better memory and context, smart-home integration and hands-free access could help. The device will also need to be extremely reliable because people are likely to judge it much more harshly than an experimental AI app.
Privacy will be another major issue. A product designed to remain in a home, listen for voice interactions and potentially understand its surroundings will collect a level of contextual information that many users may not be comfortable sharing. OpenAI will need strong controls and a clear explanation of how the device handles recordings, personal information and other data.
OpenAI has already shown that it can create a consumer AI product at enormous scale. Hardware is a different challenge. Amazon, Google and Apple have years of experience designing physical products, managing supply chains and building smart-home ecosystems. They also have existing customers who are already comfortable buying their devices.
OpenAI’s advantage is its AI technology and the popularity of ChatGPT. Working with Jony Ive also gives the company an experienced design team and could help it avoid making the product look like another generic smart speaker.
The company has already invested heavily in this direction. OpenAI acquired Ive’s AI hardware startup in 2025 in a deal valued at around $6.5 billion, bringing the former Apple designer and his team closer to OpenAI’s hardware ambitions.
There is also a legal complication. Apple has sued OpenAI over allegations related to trade secrets and its hardware work, something OpenAI has denied. It is too early to know whether that dispute will have any meaningful effect on the product’s development or launch.
For now, the most interesting thing about OpenAI’s hardware project is that it appears to be aiming beyond the traditional smart speaker. The reported donut-shaped device, premium construction and moving parts may attract attention, but they are not what will decide its success.
The real question is whether OpenAI can make people feel that having ChatGPT as a dedicated physical device is genuinely better than using the same AI on a phone.
If it can, the $300 to $400 price may be easier to justify. If it cannot, consumers already have plenty of cheaper ways to talk to an AI assistant.
OpenAI is reportedly targeting 2027 for the launch, which gives the company plenty of time to change the design, hardware and pricing. Until it officially reveals the product, much of what we know remains based on reporting. But if the current reports are accurate, OpenAI is not simply trying to build another smart speaker. It is testing whether a conversational AI can become a physical part of everyday life.
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