Sam Altman wants OpenAI to build the computer that comes after the smartphone

Sam Altman isn’t content with making the world’s most popular chatbot. He wants to build the hardware it lives in, too. The OpenAI CEO has been laying out an increasingly detailed vision for what he calls a “new kind of computer,” one designed from scratch for AI rather than retrofitted from decades-old paradigms. The central idea: devices that don’t wait for you to tap, type, or swipe. They just know what you need and act on it. The pitch: computers that think ahead Altman’s argument boils down to a simple observation. Smartphones and PCs were designed for a world where humans did the computing. AI-native devices should flip that relationship entirely. Instead of pulling out your phone to check your calendar, send a message, or adjust your thermostat, Altman envisions hardware that maintains continuous context about your life. It would handle tasks proactively, anticipating what you want before you ask. That level of personalization is the endgame. Altman has suggested that advances in deep personalization could arrive within months, not years, laying the software groundwork for the hardware push that follows. Jony Ive, a $6.5B acquisition, and a smart speaker OpenAI isn’t approac...