Battle for AI dominance: OpenAI's moves target Apple & Google

00:00 Brian Sozzi

Johnny Ive, man behind the creation of the iPhone, teaming up with Sam Altman of Open AI this week, and what could be a potential threat to the big tech companies that are searching for AI supremacy. With Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, all investing internally and externally to achieve those goals. Still with me here to discuss is Hope King. I'm really excited, Hope, to get your take on this, uh, the rollout video here too, on Sam Altman and Johnny Ive's relationship here. How are you thinking about the impact this could have on Open AI on these other tech companies?

00:33 Hope King

I mean, what a move, and it's a move we've seen from Sam Altman and Open AI before. Last year before Google IO, they also released another product. And so this is just really their same playbook, but they really up the ante this year because they announced this acquisition on the second day of Google IO this week. The company that they acquired is called IO. So when you go on X, someone noted that if you typed in IO, it's not Google IO that comes up, it's this acquisition. Um, and I think with the larger picture for, for, I think Sam Altman and Open AI is, you know, they're getting into a space that they could really disrupt the rest of Big Tech, because if you own the device, if you own the actual entry point into the AI systems that, you know, we're using more and more, there is no reason for you to go and use Gemini or, you know, use Siri and another phone, um, and to take, you know, this very beloved figure in consumer product tech design, Johnny Ive, under their belt. I mean, he's not joining most of the team is, but that, that is a huge, huge stake in the ground. And I think to Sam Altman's kind of strategy here, I think he wants to be able to disrupt in a way that Google can't because they're so much bigger at this point.

02:14 Brian Sozzi

It, it also makes me wonder when last night when I was thinking about talking to you about this, I was thinking of asking you about the competition between Open AI and Gemini, Google's LLM. But now I'm thinking about how Apple plays into this, given that that stock's under pressure after the president's tariff teases this morning on Truth Social. How much does this actually put a risk into the room for Apple with phone dominance?

02:51 Hope King

I actually think that's a great point, and we know that Apple has been under fire this year, has been under pressure because their AI hasn't delivered. Well, if your phones are going to go up in price, if it's going to disrupt your manufacturing supply chain, and you're falling behind on the most important software of the day, of the future, that I actually think it's, it's a brilliant question. And they've got Johnny Ive now. We don't know what this device is going to look like, obviously. Um, but yes, now they're really going to be behind, uh, on this if they can't get their iPhones to deliver on the AI promise that they've been talking about, you know, for the last two plus years. Um, so I, I, I love that you were thinking about this last night. I think that it's a great connection point. Um, and as we know, Apple like Nvidia, it used to be one of those stocks when earnings came around, you never wanted to bet against. But more and more, I mean, they, they still have performed, you know, fairly well, but more and more you're seeing the concern start to creep in, and it's because the software is becoming more, this AI software is becoming more important to their strategy in the future.

04:25 Brian Sozzi

And something else that our, uh, steward here, executive producer John Highland flagged to me this morning. Humane selling to HPE for like $200 million. And that turned out to not necessarily be successful. We also know Johnny Ive, he had that AI gadget that was sort of like that pin that was going to be on your chest that didn't necessarily take off as well. So is there a chance that Sam Altman isn't betting on the perfect person for the job?

05:01 Hope King

I, I mean, I think, you know, it's sort of like the Ryan Reynolds. I mean, it's not exactly, but when you have somebody who is as well known as Johnny Ive, when you have somebody that can give you a boost, um, in an area that, you know, Open AI is still software, in an area that they currently don't have product in, I think it's going to grab a lot of attention for a really, really long time. You're going to get the curiosity, people who are just waiting now for the product announcement. It's going to hang over every single tech company for the next couple of quarters and years, depending on how like long it'll take for them to actually release something. Um, and the other, you know, interesting thing about Apple, as you mentioned earlier, is they they also are looking at their hardware strategy. They have these new glasses that they're planning, um, that is part of this like launch, right, of new hardware. Um, I own a Vision Pro at home. It currently is sitting pretty much unused, but you know, I love being a first adopter with tech, and, you know, the problem with the, the Vision Pro is obviously it's very bulky. They're making kind of this Warby Parker move with kind of Google and, and with Ray-Ban and Meta of, of making it smaller. So I think if they can make a splash with those glasses, if Apple can make a splash with those glasses, maybe they have a chance in recouping some of that attention that they've lost.

06:47 Brian Sozzi

A first mover advantage on a new form of hardware potentially. Hope, thank you so much. Really appreciate.