OpenAI is working on a smartphone that centres on AI agents rather than regular apps, according to a TechCrunch report. The same coverage says OpenAI is teaming up with MediaTek and Qualcomm to create a custom chip, while Luxshare Precision Industry will handle system design and manufacturing.
The final details and supplier list should be set by late 2026 or early 2027, with mass production planned for 2028. If successful, the phone could ship 300 to 400 million units a year, more than current iPhone sales.
This phone is designed to change how people use smartphones. Instead of downloading apps and navigating menus, users would interact with AI agents that can order rides, book restaurants, manage email, conduct research, and write messages.
The phone would handle simple tasks like context awareness, memory, and small AI models on the device, while more complex processing would happen in the cloud. The device would maintain a “full real-time state,” constantly tracking a user’s location, activity, communication, and surroundings to help AI agents work more effectively.
This smartphone marks a big change from OpenAI’s earlier hardware plans, which focused on other devices designed by Jony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer. OpenAI bought Ive’s startup, io Products, for $6.5 billion. That plan included a smart speaker, smart glasses, and a smart lamp, but not a phone. The first product, the Sweetpea smart speaker, is set to be announced in the second half of 2026.
Aiming for a smartphone with hundreds of millions of annual sales shows that OpenAI’s ambitions have grown a lot.
