OpenAI is preparing to launch its first consumer hardware product – a portable, screenless smart speaker designed to serve as an AI companion in the home – with an unveiling planned for 2026 and a possible release the following year.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the project, reports that OpenAI is positioning the device not as a conventional smart speaker but as a new kind of home computer for the AI era. It will be fitted with cameras, sensors and voice controls, giving it the ability to interpret its surroundings, answer questions, manage smart-home devices, play media, handle messages and assist with everyday tasks.
A rechargeable battery will allow users to carry the device between rooms rather than keep it fixed to one spot. The speaker will also include mechanical components that shift automatically during conversations, lending it a more lifelike and responsive quality. OpenAI reportedly wants the product to feel like a genuine presence in the home, rather than simply a voice-activated utility.
The device is expected to run on an advanced version of ChatGPT Voice Mode, referred to internally as GPT-Live, which can listen and speak simultaneously and manage more natural back-and-forth exchanges. OpenAI also plans for it to draw on personal data – including emails – so it can learn a user’s routines, anticipate needs and surface relevant information without waiting to be asked.
The smart speaker is reportedly the first of around five hardware products OpenAI is developing, a pipeline that spans wearable concepts, home robotics and a future mobile device intended to take on the smartphone. The company is currently facing a trade secret lawsuit from Apple, which analysts have suggested could affect its hardware timeline.
The move marks a meaningful strategic shift for a company that has operated primarily as an AI software and services business. OpenAI enters a market already occupied by Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Nest ecosystem, though its broad consumer recognition through ChatGPT gives it a stronger foothold than most new hardware entrants have managed at launch.
