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- OpenAI, Jony Ive join forces in $6.5B acquisition
OpenAI, Jony Ive join forces in $6.5B acquisition
PLUS: Mistral’s powerful new open-source coding model
Zach Mink & Rowan Cheung
May 22, 2025
Good morning, AI enthusiasts. Google's I/O event captured the attention of the AI world, but OpenAI just got an io of its own — snatching up ex-Apple design genius Jony Ive's startup in a $6.5B deal.
With Altman calling their prototype the "coolest piece of technology the world will have ever seen," could this powerhouse duo be building the iPhone hardware moment for AI?
ICYMI — Rowan sat down with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at its Build 2025 conference this week for an exclusive interview on the company’s agentic vision. Watch the full conversation here.
In today’s AI rundown:
OpenAI acquires Jony Ive's AI device startup
Mistral’s new open-source coding model
Export professional research reports as PDFs
Shopify’s new AI store builder, tools
4 new AI tools & 4 job opportunities
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
OPENAI
Image source: OpenAI
The Rundown: OpenAI just announced its acquisition of io, the AI device startup co-founded by legendary Apple designer Jony Ive, in a $6.5B all-stock deal to create a new generation of AI-powered devices.
The details:
OpenAI and Ive’s io have been quietly working for two years on devices intended to move "beyond screens," with the first products expected in 2026.
This deal merges io with OpenAI, bringing in 50+ io engineers and designers, including ex-Apple veterans who helped create the iPhone and iPad.
Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, will also take charge of creative work across OpenAI, going beyond hardware to influence the look and feel of all products.
The move was announced in a 9-minute video, with Altman saying Ive is the “deepest thinker he’s ever met” and Ive calling Altman a “rare visionary.”
Altman also said he has been testing a prototype of io’s device, saying he believes it is the “coolest piece of technology the world will have ever seen”.
Why it matters: This duo has been making moves beneath the surface for several years, but this is a loud official announcement of OpenAI’s hardware ambitions. The AI giant now has the secret sauce behind many of Apple’s revolutionary products — and will now look to crack the code on a device that changes how users interact with AI.
TOGETHER WITH SANA
The Rundown: Sana’s enterprise AI agent platform took center stage at the AI Summit, demoed live for 500+ industry leaders. Trusted by Fortune 500 clients, Sana Agents automate thousands of critical workflows daily.
With Sana Agents, you’ll experience:
Up to 90% efficiency gains — launch agents in minutes, no dev bottlenecks
Seamless integration with 100+ tools like Salesforce, Office365, and Slack
Enterprise-grade security, full data control, and zero data retention for total peace of mind
Click here to skip the waitlist and see Sana Agents in action.
MISTRAL
Image source: …
The Rundown: French AI startup Mistral just partnered with All Hands AI to release Devstral, a new open-source coding model that outperforms much larger rivals on software engineering tasks while being small enough to run on a laptop or single GPU.
The details:
Devstral beats all open-source and several closed models on benchmarks like SWE-Bench Verified, which measures real-world GitHub issues.
The model is optimized for agentic software development, allowing it to navigate entire codebases, edit files, and solve complex coding problems.
It is also lightweight enough to run locally on devices like Macs and features a permissive Apache 2.0 license for open usage.
Mistral also said they expect to release a larger agentic coding model in the coming weeks.
Why it matters: Mistral is back to its open-source ways after the closed launch of its Medium 3 model, making it clear that advanced, agentic coding assistants are going to be available in all shapes and sizes going forward. With a powerful small model and a larger one on the way, Mistral continues to provide strong alternatives to the AI giants.
AI TRAINING
The Rundown: In this tutorial, you will learn how to use ChatGPT's Deep Research to generate comprehensive reports with citations that you can download as well-formatted PDFs.
Step-by-step:
Open ChatGPT and select "Deep Research" from the model dropdown
Structure your prompt: Instruction + Context + Output Format
Let ChatGPT generate your comprehensive report with citations
Click the share icon and select "Download as PDF" for a professional document
Pro tip: The PDF download works for both new and past research reports in your chat history.
PRESENTED BY EMERGENT
The Rundown: Emergent completely changes the workflow for app creators by turning descriptions into production-ready apps with no code required — allowing you to launch faster, smarter, and simpler products for everything from quick MVPs to full-scale platforms.
Emergent's workflow is simple:
Type what you want, like "a marketplace app with secure payments”
See your complete application built instantly with all necessary components
Fine-tune and customize to easily tweak designs and add new features
Go live to real users with a single click for instant deployments
Bring your idea to life today with code VIBEWITHRUNWAY.
SHOPIFY
Image source: Shopify
The Rundown: Shopify just released its Summer '25 Edition, packed with AI-powered features, including an automated store builder that creates complete storefronts from simple text descriptions and major upgrades to its Sidekick AI assistant.
The details:
Shopify’s AI store builder lets merchants type descriptions to quickly generate ready-to-launch online stores with custom designs, images, and layouts.
The platform offers new AI-enhanced ‘Horizon’ themes, allowing merchants to customize their store designs without coding.
The upgraded Sidekick now supports voice conversations and screen sharing, and can also handle tasks like running reports and creating discount codes.
New AI shopping agent tools help merchants connect with customers browsing through conversational platforms like Perplexity for broader exposure.
Why it matters: As one of the primary gateways to e-commerce, Shopify’s AI push is quietly an on-boarder for mainstream adoption — with millions of small businesses and merchants able to take advantage of both AI-enhanced site building and an advanced assistant for business tasks and customer acquisition.
QUICK HITS
🎨 The Rundown - Designer (Brand & Platform)
📂 Meta - Data Management Analyst
📈 Hebbia - Account Development Leadership
🚀 Databricks - Startup Account Executive
ByteDance released BAGEL, a new open-source multimodal foundation model that combines advanced image generation and understanding capabilities.
xAI introduced Live Search API, a new beta feature that allows apps leveraging Grok models to search real-time data from X and the internet.
OpenAI expanded its agentic app-building Responses API with new support for remote MCP servers, image generation, Code Interpreter, and more.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said at I/O that the company “fully intends that Gemini will be the first AGI”, believing it will come before 2030.
OpenAI’s data center in Abilene, TX, secured $11.6B in new funding, expected to be the largest used by the company as it ramps up its Stargate infrastructure project.
AI benchmarking platform LMArena announced $100M in seed funding, also revealing plans for a new relaunch of the site next week.
COMMUNITY
Join our next workshop this Friday, May 23rd, at 4 PM EST with Dr. Alvaro Cintas, The Rundown’s AI professor. By the end of the workshop, you’ll be up to speed on the latest from Google and ready to use their new tools in your own projects.
RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.
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See you soon,
Rowan, Joey, Zach, Alvaro, and Jason—The Rundown’s editorial team
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