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If you’ve ever looked at a pair of AirPods and thought, “I really wish these were behind my ears and not in them,” then Jony Ive and Sam Altman might be here to save the day.
Reports from a supply chain leaker, Smart Pikachu, who has previously shared information on rumored unreleased Apple products, indicate that an anticipated AI gadget from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Apple head of design, Jony Ive, has AirPods in its crosshairs.
Hearing fresh detail on Openai "To-go" hardware project from last report. Now confirmed it is a special audio product to replace Airpod, internal code name is "Sweetpea"
On manufacturing, Foxconn has been told to prepare for total 5 devices by Q4 2028. All not known but a home… https://t.co/svOCBuyapI pic.twitter.com/SFumFfRIeF
— 智慧皮卡丘 Smart Pikachu (Weibo) (@zhihuipikachu) January 12, 2026
The device, codenamed “Sweetpea,” apparently, is what the leaker is describing as a “special audio product” that resembles an earpiece. Two pill-shaped gadgets, which are housed in an egg-shaped case when not in use, can be situated behind the ear. From there, I assume they can do stuff like play audio or place calls. I say “assume” here because we don’t yet know what Altman and Ive’s gadget really does yet.
If there was one thing I’d bet all the AirPods in the world on, it’s that Sweetpea centers on an AI voice assistant powered by ChatGPT. Using microphones and a voice assistant, these not-earbuds could make calls, play audio, or maybe even control stuff on your phone. If that sounds a lot like what you can already do with wireless earbuds as they exist right now, well… that’s because it is. According to Smart Pikachu:
“[the] main processor target is 2nm smart phone style chip (exynos most favored). a custom chip also been developed to allowing the device to “replace iphone actions by commanding Siri.”
Good idea or not, Smart Pikachu says that Sweetpea could be the first AI gadget we see from Altman and Ive’s collaboration, with a projected release around September. After Sweetpea, we could see even wackier hardware that may include a “home-style device,” as the leaker puts it, or—and I’m not making this up—a pen? I guess, of the products potentially in the pipeline for Altman and Ive, Sweetpea sounds the most useful, but if I’m being honest, these little earpieces are going to have to do more than just dupe AirPods’ best features to make an impact.
The fact of the matter is that people like wireless earbuds—not only is the form factor familiar, proven, and cheap to make, but they also allow for stuff like active noise cancellation (ANC), which is a must-have if you live in a crowded city like me or if you ever fly on an airplane.
Clearly, there’s something in Sweetpea that we’re not seeing yet, though. If Smart Pikachu’s leaks are legit, the device using a 2nm chip says a lot—mainly that it could be used as a standalone gadget that’s not necessarily tethered to a phone. Whether anyone wants that type of hardware is another question entirely. Just like wireless earbuds, people also like their phones, and if you want to see how the whole unseating the phone with AI train is chugging along, I’d point you to the heaping wreck that is Humane and its failed Ai Pin.
Either way, it looks like we’ll have more premium AI gadgets to ogle soon enough—that is, if the tandem ever manages to get its computers—ya know—computing.
English (US) ·