OpenAI has shifted manufacturing of its first consumer hardware device to Foxconn, which will assemble it in Vietnam, after parting ways with the Chinese supplier Luxshare, according to a report by The Information published in the first days of January 2026. The device, designed with former Apple design chief Jony Ive and known internally by the codename Gumdrop, is targeted for release later in 2026.
OpenAI has not confirmed the details, and the company has said little publicly about what the product is. The reporting, however, offers the clearest picture so far of a project that OpenAI has spent more than $6 billion to pursue.
What the reports describe
According to the leaks, the device is a small, screenless object with a pen-like form that connects handwriting and voice directly to ChatGPT. It is intended to be a “third core device” alongside a laptop and a smartphone: something that can sit in a pocket or on a desk, stay aware of its surroundings, and let a person take notes or talk to the assistant without pulling out a phone. The accounts describe a deliberately quieter approach than the AI gadgets launched in 2024, such as the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1, which were widely criticized for limited usefulness.
The reports also say OpenAI has reorganized its engineering teams around the project and is developing a new audio model architecture, expected in the first quarter of 2026, to make voice interaction faster and more natural, including the ability to handle interruptions in real time. Current voice models lag text models in speed and accuracy, which matters for a device that depends on speech. The audio effort is reported to be led by Kundan Kumar, who joined OpenAI from Character.AI.
Why the manufacturing move matters
Moving production away from China and to Foxconn’s facilities in Vietnam reflects pressures that have reshaped consumer electronics supply chains in recent years: tariffs, geopolitical risk and concerns about data security for a device that will handle users’ conversations. The Information reported that some U.S. factories are being evaluated as a secondary option. Foxconn, which assembles most iPhones, has been expanding in Vietnam and India for several years as Apple and other customers diversify away from China.
Altman and Ive on the device
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said in November 2025, speaking alongside Ive at an event in San Francisco, that early prototypes were complete and that he was impressed with their quality. He contrasted the intended experience with the smartphone, which he compared to walking through Times Square, and said the new device should feel calm and undemanding by comparison. Neither executive described the form factor.
The project grew out of OpenAI’s acquisition of io, the hardware startup Ive co-founded, in May 2025. The all-stock deal was valued at about $6.4 billion and brought a team of roughly 55 engineers and designers into OpenAI. Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, remains independent but leads design for the device.
What is not yet known
Pricing, the exact release date and the device’s full capabilities remain unreported, and hardware timelines slip often. The leaked details also come from unnamed sources, so the pen description should be treated as a report rather than a confirmed specification. What is clear is OpenAI’s intent to be more than a software company. If Gumdrop ships in 2026 as described, it will be the first serious test of whether a major AI lab can succeed where a wave of AI hardware startups did not.
