OpenAI Plans $300 Smart Speaker for 2027 Release

OpenAI is preparing to enter the consumer hardware market with a screenless smart speaker scheduled for release in 2027. According to reports, the device will be priced above $300. Shaped like a donut and roughly the size of a hockey puck, the battery-powered gadget will feature moving parts, microphones, speakers, a camera system, and integrated lights. This physical form factor represents OpenAI's initial step in establishing a direct, hardware-based presence in users' homes.

The upcoming speaker is designed to operate similarly to the current voice mode of ChatGPT. However, OpenAI aims to make the device feel more lifelike than existing smart speakers by enabling it to continuously learn from conversations and adapt dynamically to individual users. This aligns with OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman's long-stated vision of creating an interactive AI assistant reminiscent of the science-fiction film "Her." The company reportedly plans to follow this initial release with a broader suite of hardware products.

Despite these ambitious plans, the 2027 launch timeline faces a significant threat from a lawsuit filed by Apple. The tech giant accuses OpenAI of stealing hardware trade secrets by poaching more than 400 former Apple employees. While OpenAI denies these allegations and maintains that it has not violated any of Apple's intellectual property, the legal battle could slow development enough to delay the product's debut and disrupt OpenAI's hardware roadmap.

For AI developers and industry practitioners, this hardware push signals a shift from purely cloud-based software APIs to tightly integrated hardware-software ecosystems. If OpenAI successfully deploys dedicated devices, developers may soon need to optimize models for multimodal, ambient hardware environments that rely on real-time camera and microphone inputs rather than standard text prompts.