Jony Ive, OpenAI, and the Screens That Rule Us

Jony Ive recently reflected on the “unforeseen consequences” of innovation: “If you make something new, if you innovate, there will be consequences unforeseen, and some will be wonderful and some will be harmful.”.

It’s easy to see this in hindsight—from the introduction of the iPhone to the rise of social media. He’s also admitted, “While some of the less positive consequences were unintentional, I still feel responsibility.” That’s not a statement he makes lightly. I recommend you watch his interview with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison on YouTube if you want ot hear more.

From Apple to io Products and OpenAI

In 2024, Ive founded io Products, Inc. with former Apple colleagues, aiming to develop AI hardware. Later that year, OpenAI acquired a roughly 23% stake before purchasing the company outright in May 2025.

I initially assumed OpenAI had hired Ive directly, as much of the media suggested. In reality, Ive and his design collective, LoveFrom, remain independent, though they play a key role in designing OpenAI’s hardware. Reflecting on Our Tech Addiction

Coming back to Ive’s sense of responsibility: it’s hard to ignore that our constant connectivity and social media use is doing more harm than good.

Even though I’ve blocked social media sites and removed their apps, I clock around 3–4 hours of screen time daily. Most of it comes from messaging or “productivity”—checking my to-do list, managing tasks, and keeping my day organized.

I hadn’t realised how high my usage was until this week. I thought I was avoiding the typical screen addiction because I’d turned my phone into a productivity device—but I’m beholden to its glowing screen, as much as anyone else. In 2025, the average mobile phone screen time for UK adults is around 3.5 hours a day.

Even “healthy” habits can be traps. For example, spending time on my to-do list app scrolling through tasks, trying to decide on the next ‘best’ thing to work on rather than picking a task and completing it. Little things add up—and before you know it, your “work phone” starts feeling like a leash.

In the past, I’ve tried greyscale mode, voice commands, and removing apps to reduce screen time. But these strategies tend to slip. There’s also something slightly perverse about spending the same amount of money as a laptop on a device that you deliberately hobble to regain control of your attention.

What’s coming next?

Ive has spoken about doing a lot of research into how people interact with each other as part of the suite of hardware devices he and the team are designing for OpenAI. He’s also mentioned that these devices may be “context-aware” and be screen free but real details are unsurprisingly sparse.

I can’t help but imagine a device not dissimilar to the AI companion device that is seen throughout the 2013 movie “Her”. That device was screen-less, was carried with you and had a camera to perceive the world around it. Whilst the “Samantha” AI persona in the film is way beyond our current technology the hardware approach might be viable.

Either way, it’s a decent guess that voice control will form a key part of how people will interact with these new family of devices. This isn’t a new concept, Humane tried to do this with their Pin product however it was plagued with issues and the company eventually was sold in 2024 to HP.

Taking Action

After realizing how much I’m using my phone, I’ve decided to make changes now rather than waiting for a magical AI device to solve the problem.

I’ve started brainstorming ideas—more voice-command interaction and analogue solutions. For instance: leaving a notebook by my desk to jot down thoughts instead of opening an app, transcribing my daily todos onto paper or note cards. I’m hoping small tweaks like these will end up being powerful.

Inspired by Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff, I’ll test these as “pacts” for set periods and share my findings along the way. Stay tuned!

Header image Photo by John Tuesday on Unsplash