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<\/a><\/p>\nBy Rejoy Surendran, Market Strategy Manager & Xinpei Cao, Sr. Principal, Application Engineering, Henkel\u00a0 04.27.2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t By SK hynix\u00a0 04.26.2026<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t By TechInsights\u00a0 04.24.2026<\/p>\n But there is a twist in OpenAI\u2019s smartphone story.<\/p>\n OpenAI\u2019s smartphone about-face<\/p>\n Last year, when OpenAI acquired Jony Ive\u2019s startup io Products for $6.4 billion, CEO Sam Altman said the io collaboration would yield a new category of AI devices that complement phones and laptops rather than replace either. These devices, optimized for on-device AI tasks, would enable faster local inference for smaller models, improve power efficiency, and offer agent-like capabilities.<\/p>\n For instance, there have been industry reports on consumer-oriented AI devices such as AI-powered earbuds. The device, while heavily relying on cloud-based AI processing, would be powered by Samsung\u2019s 2-nm Exynos chip for on-device processing. Then, there has been talk of a screenless device taking the form factor of a pen or pendant.<\/p>\n Ive, former chief designer at Apple, would lead the creation of what Altman called a \u201cthird core device\u201d alongside phones and laptops. In short, OpenAI, while keen to break into hardware, wasn\u2019t focused on smartphones. But a day before Kuo\u2019s post, Altman wrote on X, \u201cWhile OpenAI clearly believed at one point that it could disrupt the iPhone with its first AI devices, perhaps it now sees the smartphone as central to AI uses for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n So, what led to this about-face?<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely that, while OpenAI believed it could disrupt the iPhone with its new category of AI devices, it now sees the smartphone as central to AI use for many years to come. Kuo reinforced this premise, saying that smartphones will remain the largest-scale device category for the foreseeable future. So, it makes sense for OpenAI to develop a device entirely run by AI, since the company has accumulated user data over the years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe smartphone is the only device that captures the user\u2019s full real-time state, which is the most important input for real-time AI agent inference,\u201d he wrote in his post. \u201cOnly by fully controlling both the operating system and hardware can OpenAI deliver a comprehensive AI agent service.\u201d<\/p>\n OpenAI\u2019s smartphone could aim to capitalize on the device as the most valuable source of data for real-time AI inference.<\/p>\n Kuo believes that AI agents will shape the OpenAI smartphone, making it work and feel very different from an iPhone. However, he acknowledges that OpenAI will need to emulate Apple\u2019s \u2018whole widget\u2019 approach by controlling both hardware and software.<\/p>\n Smartphone design wars<\/p>\n Last year, Qualcomm announced that OpenAI\u2019s first reasoning model, gpt-oss-20b, is running on devices powered by its Snapdragon processors. This 20B parameter model\u2014enabling chain-of-thought reasoning entirely on-device\u2014provided a glimpse into the future of AI where assistant-style reasoning could become local.<\/p>\n Qualcomm, with early access to the gpt-oss-20b model, performed integration testing with Qualcomm AI Engine and the Qualcomm AI Stack. Next, OpenAI\u2019s gpt-oss-20b model running on Snapdragon processors enabled devices to leverage on-device inference while complementing cloud solutions via AI agents.<\/p>\n However, while Qualcomm has incorporated neural processing units (NPUs) into its Snapdragon processors, the OpenAI smartphone affair isn\u2019t just another Android processor tweak. It marks an attempt to build silicon for ChatGPT-style experiences that\u2019s device-native, rather than cloud-dependent. Nevertheless, it broadens Qualcomm\u2019s smartphone narrative and poses a potential threat to iPhone maker Apple.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that Apple has already partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri; Apple is also opening Siri to third-party AI assistants such as Google\u2019s Gemini. In fact, Apple was forced to rely on Google\u2019s Gemini AI models to power its upcoming Siri voice assistant. So, while OpenAI\u2019s smartphone is expected to arrive by 2028, it gives Apple breathing room to get its Siri act together and build an \u201cAI-native\u201d iPhone from the ground up with deeper agentic capabilities.<\/p>\n OpenAI seems to be challenging Apple\u2019s iPhone turf with a smartphone that will serve as a real-time data repository to enable continuous AI agent inference. That clearly poses a competitive threat to both Apple and Samsung, which together account for roughly 40% of global smartphone sales.<\/p>\n The next round of smartphone design wars is in sight now.<\/p>\n See also:<\/p>\n Open-Weight Models and the Future of AI<\/a><\/p>\n How to Plan Agentic AI Deployment for Chip Design<\/a><\/p>\n![\"SK](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SK-hynix-.jpg\")
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The gpt-oss-20b model is designed for lower latency, local, or specialized use cases without a cloud dependency. (Source: OpenAI<\/a>)<\/p>\n