Details Leak on OpenAI’s Doughnut-Shaped Speaker
The ChatGPT maker is reportedly working on a small, portable AI smart speaker, but it better not look too much like Apple's designs.
OpenAI plans to release an AI smart speaker in 2027, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday. It’ll reportedly be palm-size and doughnut-shaped and have a wireless design that will let people carry it around.
The report, which cited unnamed people familiar with the project, also indicates that the small speaker will cost $300 to $400, a steep price compared with around $100 to $200 for most smart speakers (except for high-end Bose and Sonos options). The device would work like ChatGPT on your phone, but it would use more advanced models that can learn about the user and talk with them in tailored ways over time.
A representative from OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The report also says the speaker will have parts that move to signal how it’s interacting, something usually left to screen icons. It will have indicator lights plus a camera system and sensors to help it collect and process information about its environment.
But OpenAI faces a potential legal roadblock to making the device available to consumers. Last month, Apple sued the artificial intelligence company, alleging it stole confidential product design and development information and asked manufacturers to copy Apple’s metal finishing. The Bloomberg report says that the OpenAI speaker was designed with help from LoveFrom studio, launched by former Apple designer Jony Ive. Last year, OpenAI acquired a separate Ive-founded startup, IO, focused on devices.
Apple is similarly rumored to be working on AI-powered devices for the home. A first wave could arrive this fall, with smart display devices that take advantage of its new Siri AI capabilities.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
I’ve tested several smart speakers in the past year that come with the latest AI features, similar to those this report mentions. That includes Echo and Echo Show displays with Alexa Plus, which can adapt to your habits, order food for you and carry on conversations. I’ve also tried Google’s latest Home speaker, a device made with Gemini for Home in mind; it can brainstorm with you and answer questions about what compatible security cameras have seen outside. It’s unclear whether OpenAI’s speaker would have such capabilities.
The Bloomberg report describes the OpenAI device as being the size of a hockey puck, which would be unusual for a smart speaker and could prove a significant technology challenge, from sound quality to battery life and speed of response.
Makers of AI devices also have to contend with concerns around privacy, which have been on the rise as technologies like smart glasses and Ring video doorbells become more commonplace.
