OpenAI has removed the mention of io, the hardware startup co-founded by legendary Apple designer Jony Ive, from its website and social media channels just weeks after announcing the $6.5 billion deal. The sudden absence of promotional materials has sparked concerns about whether OpenAI has put the deal on hold.
However, OpenAI says it remains committed to the acquisition and that the content was taken offline following a court order tied to a trademark lawsuit from Iyo, a hearing device startup.
What is the dispute all about?
A competing firm called IYO that pitched an AI hardware to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's personal firm and Ive's design firm launched a trademark complaint against the deal. A US federal judge then asked OpenAI to stop marketing its upcoming partnership with the iPhone designer due to the trademark dispute. The judge ordered Altman, Ive and OpenAI to refrain from “using the IYO mark, and any mark confusingly similar thereto, including the IO mark in connection with the marketing or sale of related products.”
OpenAI last month announced it was buying io Products, a product and engineering company co-founded by Jony Ive, the former senior vice president of industrial design and chief design officer at Apple in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion (€5.6 billion).
In its quick response, OpenAI by scrubbing its website of mentions of the new venture, saying instead that the page “is temporarily down due to a court order.
“We don’t agree with the complaint and are reviewing our options," the company added.
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