Sam Altman’s OpenAI To Launch AI-Powered Earbuds With Unique Design In 2026: All Details

OpenAI has been looking to foray into the hardware domain for a long time now, and the partnership with Jony Ive is living proof of it. Now, according to a popular tipster who goes by the name Smart Pikachu

on X, OpenAI is working on an audio product to 'replace' Apple AirPods. These earbuds have been codenamed 'Sweetpea' as of now, and they are set to get a 'unique, unseen before' design. The main device could be made of metal resembling the shape of an eggstone. Inside the eggstone. There will be two pill-shaped devices that will rest behind the ear of the user.The tipster further states that OpenAI is working on giving the earbuds a 2nm smartphone style processor, most probably an Exynos one. And it has also been mentioned that the chip has been developed to replace iPhone actions by commanding Siri. Smart Pikachu also says that the bill of materials (BOM) could be pretty high, possibly matching the BOM of a smartphone. With that in mind, it looks like the earbuds are not going to be a cheap offering for the masses. As for the release timeline, the tipster said that OpenAI is looking to release the earbuds by September 2026 with a volume projection of 40-50mm first year.These earbuds are going to be one of the five hardware products that OpenAI is possibly working on right now. If we go by the leak, the company has partnered with Foxconn to get all five devices prepared for the market by the fourth quarter of 2028. Apart from the earbuds, it is also being said that we will soon get to see a home-style device and a pen from OpenAI in the near future.