OpenAI may sell a smart speaker with a camera that can recognize faces

It’s no secret that OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is losing money at a rapid clip. Some estimates suggest the company will run out of cash sometime in 2027 — and even a $100 billion investment round won’t keep the lights on for long.

What can help? The new product – in particular, designed by Sir Jony Ive, an Apple veteran who came on board last May at a cost of 6.5 billion dollars – thinking that you can start while the company still has money in the bank. Despite the many hurdles, OpenAI has said that Ive’s first product will be announced this year, as they remain tight-lipped about what it actually is.

Now Information says it’s details in that first launch: An AI-powered smart speaker with a built-in facial recognition camera. It is reported that we will cost between $200 and $300. But – and given the situation, this is a big but – we won’t see it until Feb. 2027 soon.

The camera will “allow people to buy things by identifying themselves with a facial recognition feature similar to Apple’s Face ID,” members of the firm’s 200-employee AI firm’s team told the site. Whether facial recognition will streamline the login process or be used to actually purchase products (blink once for a coffee maker, blink twice for a frother?), is not yet clear.

A smart speaker might not be the most exciting product an AI company could dream of, but some are said to be on the way. AI glasses are next, according to the report, but “probably won’t be ready for mass production until 2028.” An AI-powered smart light bulb is in action. No word on OpenAI’s other rumored product – smart earbuds.

Will the smart speaker generate enough enthusiasm (and pre-orders) to keep the company afloat? To answer that, you have to ask yourself if people really want a speaker with a camera that can scan their face in their living room. It is possible that Apple may get rid of the annoying aspect of that – after all, the iPhone maker always emphasizes its privacy features, and its business model does not include selling ads.

But OpenAI sells ads — and consumers are already wary of how many ads the Amazon Echo smart home device serves up. Besides, the market for AI devices is likely to be overcrowded by 2027, Apple is said to be working on a smart pin.

So what is the value proposition of a smart speaker? “The device will be able to watch users on video and guide them to actions it believes will help them achieve their goals,” said one of the company’s insider sources. “You can imagine the device looking at its user staying up late before a big meeting and suggesting they go to bed, for example.”

If the creepy speaker is your bedtime manager, then OpenAI may have a path to profitability. Besides, CEO Sam Altman may grow desperate to keep the company funded. Maybe his smart speaker with a camera can look for loose change on your sofa cushions.