Who is Jony Ive? The design legend behind Apple devices and OpenAI’s next big leap
In a $6.5 billion deal, OpenAI is set to merge with Ive’s tech venture, io, with Ive taking on creative and design responsibilities.
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Jony Ive, the iconic designer behind Apple’s most celebrated products, is now bringing his design genius to OpenAI. In a $6.5 billion deal, OpenAI is set to merge with Ive’s tech venture, io, with Ive taking on creative and design responsibilities. Best known for crafting the look and feel of devices like the iPhone, iMac and Apple Watch during his nearly three-decade tenure at Apple, Ive will now help build the next generation of AI-driven hardware products designed to seamlessly integrate generative AI into everyday life.
Ive is widely regarded as one of the most influential industrial designers, a creative force who helped define the sleek, minimalist aesthetic that made Apple a global design powerhouse. His big break came in 1997 when Steve Jobs returned to Apple and promoted him to Senior Vice-President of Design. What followed was a golden era for Apple, with Ive at the creative helm of products that redefined consumer tech: the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch.
Known for his obsession with detail and elegant simplicity, Ive worked closely with Jobs for over a decade. Their partnership is often credited with shaping modern product design and consumer expectations. In 2015, he was named Apple’s Chief Design Officer and played a key role in developing Apple Park, the company’s futuristic headquarters.
He left Apple in 2019 after a 27-year tenure and launched his own design firm, LoveFrom, alongside longtime collaborator Marc Newson. LoveFrom’s early clients included Apple and Airbnb.
Over the years, Ive has received multiple honors, including a knighthood in 2012 for his contributions to design, the Benjamin Franklin Medal and the San Francisco MoMA Lifetime Achievement Award. With his next act unfolding at OpenAI, the world is watching as Ive applies his visionary lens to the future of human–AI interaction.
Ive was born on February 27, 1967, in Chingford, England. He studied industrial design at Newcastle Polytechnic, now Northumbria University, before beginning his career at the design firm Tangerine and later joining Apple in 1992.
