Did Sam Altman just figure out what AI's been missing? Or did he get locked into the very thinking he's spent his career avoiding?

Altman and Ive announced OpenAI’s acquisition of Ive’s io in a statement Wednesday, with the deal valued at roughly $6.5 billion after OpenAI acquired 23% of io in a partnership deal in 2024.

Here’s what we know: it’s probably not smart glasses. Beyond that, we don’t know much about what Jony Ive and OpenAI are building through their newly combined company io, except that it’s some kind of AI super-gadget. But after a couple of years of watching the industry try and shove AI into every form factor you can imagine, we have some guesses.

Barton Crockett, Rosenblatt Securities senior analyst, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the AI battle between Apple and OpenAI, future of AI-powered devices, OpenAI's purchase of former Apple designer Jony Ive's design firm,

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is collaborating with Jony Ive, the former Apple designer, on the mysterious consumer-facing device.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman became a household name after the release of OpenAI's groundbreaking AI model, ChatGPT.

We find out from Ive that Altman is a “rare visionary.” We hear from Altman that Ive is “the deepest thinker over anyone [he’s] ever met.” We’re told by Altman that Ive’s design firm is the “densest collection of talent that I’ve ever heard of in one place and probably has ever existed in the world.

As part of a new partnership, G42, an Emirati A.I. firm, will also help fund OpenAI’s new computer facilities in the United States