OpenAI Closes $6.5 Billion Deal to Buy Jony Ive’s Device Startup

OpenAI has completed its nearly $6.5 billion all-stock deal to buy an AI device startup co-founded by Apple Inc.’s former design chief Jony Ive, cementing the ChatGPT maker’s push into the hardware market.

The purchase — the largest in OpenAI’s history — will provide the company with a dedicated unit for developing AI-powered devices. Acquiring the secretive startup, named io, also will secure the services of Ive and other former Apple designers who were behind iconic products such as the iPhone.

The deal, announced in May, was subject to regulatory approval. In June, marketing materials and video ...