OpenAI Smart Speaker Could Cost Up to $400 and Will Have Moving Parts
OpenAI's upcoming smart speaker, designed in a hockey-puck-sized doughnut shape, is being discussed internally at a price of up to $400 and will feature independently moving parts intended to make the device feel 'more alive,' according to Bloomberg.
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OpenAI’s yet-to-be-announced smart speaker has been discussed internally at a price of up to $400, with the final figure likely to exceed $300, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who cited people familiar with the matter. The device - shaped like a doughnut roughly the size of a hockey puck - will feature independently moving parts designed to make it feel “more alive than today’s stationary speaker products,” the report said.
- OpenAI has discussed pricing its upcoming smart speaker at up to $400, with sources telling Bloomberg the figure will likely exceed $300
- The device is shaped like a doughnut roughly the size of a hockey puck and will have parts that move independently when responding to user prompts
- OpenAI designed the speaker with Jony Ive's LoveFrom studio and views it as a smartphone replacement powered by ChatGPT voice mode
OpenAI has declined to comment on its product roadmap, but Bloomberg, which has been covering the unreleased device since July, described a battery-powered gadget that will work “similarly” to ChatGPT voice mode on mobile apps “but with more advanced models for humanlike interactivity.” The speaker will also be capable of controlling smart home devices, the publication previously reported, and will include lights to indicate when it is listening - a standard feature across competing products.
Premium Materials, Premium Price
Bloomberg’s sources pointed to “high-quality metal” and other premium materials as part of the speaker’s design language. OpenAI reportedly worked with LoveFrom, the studio founded by former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive, to shape the product’s aesthetic. That design partnership has drawn legal attention: Apple filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets for its hardware development. Bloomberg reported that OpenAI launched an internal investigation following the suit and concluded the speaker does not incorporate Apple intellectual property.
The price point places the device well above most of the smart speaker market. For context, Amazon’s Echo Show 15 - a 15.6-inch display-equipped device with Alexa+ - retails at $300, while the Echo Studio, which offers virtual surround sound, sells for $220. Neither of those is a straight audio-only speaker at that price. OpenAI’s reported range of $300 to $400 for a puck-sized device with no screen sets a high bar, particularly given that its primary selling point, according to Bloomberg, is access to ChatGPT.
The speaker would become OpenAI’s second hardware product, following the $230 Codex Micro mini keyboard. The company is also reportedly exploring additional AI-powered devices for the future.
The Bet on Dedicated AI Hardware
The core commercial gamble embedded in this product is significant. ChatGPT today claims substantially more users than Alexa+, but those users are largely accessing the chatbot through devices they already own - phones, laptops, tablets. For OpenAI to convert that free-or-subscription user base into buyers of dedicated $300-to-$400 hardware represents a meaningful shift in the company’s relationship with its audience.
The most capable ChatGPT features also carry subscription fees on top of any hardware cost, which compounds the ask. A user drawn to the speaker’s “more advanced models for humanlike interactivity” would likely need to be an existing paid subscriber or become one - stacking a hardware purchase on top of a recurring fee.
Bloomberg’s framing of the device as a “smartphone replacement” is an ambitious positioning in a category that has struggled commercially. Smart speakers broadly - including Amazon’s Echo line and Google’s Nest Audio - have faced well-documented profitability problems. Amazon, despite its scale and years of Alexa investment, has yet to make the Echo business consistently profitable. OpenAI would be entering that market at a higher price point, with a brand built around a chatbot rather than an ecosystem of services and shopping integrations.
Google · Your sourcesQuantslant higher in your Google - one clickAdd to preferred sources →Why OpenAI Is Pushing Into Hardware Now
The financial backdrop matters here. OpenAI is losing billions of dollars annually and has been moving aggressively to diversify revenue beyond API access and ChatGPT subscriptions. Hardware offers a one-time revenue event per unit sold, plus potential to lock users into the ChatGPT ecosystem more deeply than a mobile app can. A speaker sitting on a kitchen counter or desk is a persistent presence in a way that an app icon is not.
Moving parts and premium materials serve that stickiness goal as much as any functional purpose. A device that physically animates when spoken to creates a different kind of user relationship than a static cylinder with a light ring. Whether that differentiation justifies the price will depend on consumers who have grown accustomed to capable smart speakers at $50 to $100 - or simply using their phones.
OpenAI has yet to set a release date or formally confirm the product exists. If the device does arrive in the $300-to-$400 range, it will face an immediate test of whether ChatGPT’s brand strength translates into hardware sales - a question no amount of moving parts can answer in advance.
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