OpenAI Makes a $60 Million Hardware Startup Bet
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has long been interested in building an AI-powered device for consumers, similar to the one featured in Spike Jonze’s movie “Her.” He’s personally invested in wearable AI pin startup Humane and separately worked with ex-Apple designer Jony Ive on a personal AI device.
Now OpenAI startup's fund, which invests in promising AI startups that are often also users of its conversational AI software, is backing another hardware developer.
The ChatGPT maker is leading a $60 million Series B funding round for Opal, previously known as Opal Camera, according to two people involved in the deal. Opal, backed by YouTuber Casey Neistat and TikTok siblings Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, historically has made webcams. Existing investors including Founders Fund and Kindred Ventures are expected to participate in the funding round as well, the people said.
OpenAI’s involvement in the funding round is surprising. Opal is best known for its $300 professional-grade webcams—not an obvious match for a large language model developer.
But Opal plans to develop other types of devices powered by OpenAI’s AI models while it continues to sell its webcams, according to one of the people involved in the deal.
The three-year-old startup envisions developing devices that individuals can use as creative tools rather than AI-powered friends or companions, the person said. Opal will be working closely with OpenAI researchers to prototype various device ideas, said one of the people involved in the deal, almost like a research lab.
There’s clearly potential here. I could see this kind of tech being used, for instance, to power an intercom-like device placed on desks to help people brainstorm, research or write for creative projects.
The investment highlights how OpenAI, and its CEO, has become increasingly interested in how AI technology can power physical devices.
Earlier this spring, for instance, the ChatGPT maker restarted its robotics team, which it disbanded four years ago. It has also partnered with startups developing humanoid robots such as Figure and 1X Technologies. That’s in addition to Altman’s personal bets on Humane and the Ive device, which could look like earbuds with cameras in them, we’ve previously reported. (The Opal-OpenAI deal is separate from the Altman-Ive device, said one of the people involved in the deal.)
OpenAI executives were especially excited about the Opal investment because of the opportunity to be able to use its voice AI models in its devices, said a person briefed on the deal.
High-profile backing won’t guarantee Opal’s success, though. Other startups have stumbled in developing AI-powered devices. Humane, the developer of an AI-powered pin, considered selling itself after negative reviews and abysmal sales, and brought on former Cisco CEO and M&A veteran John Chambers last month. Rabbit, another developer of an AI-powered personal device, has struggled because most existing LLMs typically have been too large to run completely on-device. That means that AI-powered devices like Rabbit’s R1 run slowly, quickly drain battery life and require a constant internet connection.
Still, Altman and OpenAI are taking multiple shots at the AI hardware market. That increases their chances that one will pay off.