OpenAI's hardware hits legal roadblock

PLUS: Reddit eyes Altman’s World ID for human user verification

AuthorAuthor

Zach Mink & Rowan Cheung
June 24, 2025

Good morning, AI enthusiasts. Jony Ive and Sam Altman’s recent ‘io’ hardware partnership just got scrubbed from the internet — courtesy of a court order from a startup claiming the AI giant stole more than just a name.

With Google X spinoff iyO alleging suspicious meetings and an eerily similar concept, is the power duo’s hyped AI device more imitation than innovation?

In today’s AI rundown:

  • OpenAI scrubs 'io' over trademark clash

  • ElevenLabs debuts new voice assistant

  • How to optimize prompts for better AI output

  • Reddit eyes Altman’s World ID for human verification

  • 4 new AI tools & 4 job opportunities

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

Image source: iyO

The Rundown: OpenAI just removed all promotional materials for its $6.5B acquisition of Jony Ive's AI hardware startup, io, reportedly due to a court order tied to a trademark dispute with Google X spinout iyO.

The details:

  • iyO creates hardware that “allows users to interact with their smartphones, computers, AI, and the internet without the use of physical interfaces.”

  • The startup’s latest product is the iyO One AI-powered earbuds, a “computer without a screen” that can run apps via voice and converse with the user.

  • The filing alleges that Sam Altman and Ive’s LoveFrom met with iyO initially in 2022 and again in Spring 2025 just before the io announcement.

  • OpenAI removed the blog post and nine-minute video featuring Ive and Altman from its website and YouTube channels following the legal action.

  • However, the company maintains that the acquisition remains on track, calling the trademark complaint "utterly baseless."

Why it matters: While this is unlikely to derail OpenAI and Jony Ive’s hardware plans, the alleged details in the filing — from LoveFrom employees purchasing the device and directly asking to share details to the nearly identical name itself — certainly don’t paint the same picture of innovation the AI leader has created thus far around io.

TOGETHER WITH HUBSPOT

The Rundown: HubSpot’s new “200+ AI-Powered Income Ideas” free guide offers actionable strategies to turn artificial intelligence into your own personal revenue generator — unlocking a gateway to financial innovation in the digital age.

With this guide, you can:

  • Explore hundreds of revenue-generating ideas across industries with real-world applications

  • Follow simple, step-by-step instructions that make AI accessible to everyone

  • Adopt cutting-edge strategies to keep you ahead in today's fast-paced market

ELEVENLABS

Image source: ElevenLabs

The Rundown: AI voice platform ElevenLabs just launched 11ai, an in-house voice assistant that connects to tools via Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol to execute tasks rather than just answer questions.

The details:

  • The experimental alpha release integrates with platforms like Perplexity, Linear, Slack, and Notion, allowing users to manage tasks through voice commands.

  • Developers can also add custom MCP servers for additional integrations and workflows beyond the pre-built connections.

  • The platform offers 5,000+ voice options and supports voice cloning, running on ElevenLabs’ own conversational AI infrastructure.

  • 11ai is free to use and try for “several weeks,” allowing the company to gather feedback on the product and integrations.

Why it matters: ElevenLabs already has some of the strongest speech models on the market, and pairing them with MCP for tools, data access, and actions could showcase how voice assistants can actually be more useful than Siri and other outdated assistants may have led consumers to believe.

AI TRAINING

The Rundown: In this tutorial, you will learn how to use OpenAI Playground’s new automatic prompt optimization tool to transform basic prompts into high-performance system messages for more effective AI interactions.

Step-by-step:

  1. Go to OpenAI Playground and access the Prompts section

  2. Write your basic system message describing what you want the AI to do

  3. Click the “Optimize” button to automatically improve your prompt with better structure and clarity

  4. Review it and then “Save” it with a descriptive name to reuse in projects and API calls

Pro tip: Test optimized prompts with various inputs to ensure consistent performance across different use cases.

PRESENTED BY BASETEN

The Rundown: Baseten just launched Training in beta, providing the infrastructure to fine-tune and train without timeout limits using any model or dataset. Bring your scripts and data, Baseten will handle the rest.

What you get with Training:

  • On-demand compute — pay only for what you use

  • No job limits or vendor lock-in

  • Out-of-the-box checkpoints and caching

REDDIT

Image source: o3 / The Rundown

The Rundown: Reddit is reportedly negotiating with Sam Altman’s Tools For Humanity to integrate the company’s iris-scanning World ID Orb system, allowing users to provide proof of humanity while staying anonymous.

The details:

  • The system would offer Reddit users optional verification through World ID’s encrypted iris scans, which fragment biometric data across servers worldwide.

  • CEO Steve Huffman hinted at the shift last month, posting on efforts to preserve anonymity while deterring the flood of AI accounts on the platform.

  • World ID assigns users cryptographic proof without storing personal data, though minors under 18 are currently blocked from the Orb scanning process.

  • The partnership would position Reddit as the first major U.S. social platform to test biometric verification at scale aside from simple email checks.

Why it matters: The “Dead Internet” theory of the web becoming overrun with AI bots is a real concern — and something already being experienced across social media platforms. While World’s Iris scanning initiatives were initially met with tons of skepticism and anger, the need for human verification is going to be very real.

QUICK HITS

*Sponsored Listing

Disney has been in talks with “companies like OpenAI” to license its characters and IP, but its lawsuit against Midjourney “likely won’t be the last” against AI firms.

A U.S. official claimed DeepSeek is working with the Chinese government on military and intelligence ops, while using workarounds to access advanced AI chips.

Google released Magenta RealTime, an open live music AI and “cousin” of its Lyria model, allowing users to create/blend music live and locally on consumer hardware.

Meta also met with Runway for a potential acquisition, in addition to reported meetings with SSI, Thinking Machines, and Perplexity, though a deal never materialized.

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son is reportedly pitching a “Crystal Land” $1B megahub for AI and robotics manufacturing in Arizona, courting TSMC and Samsung.

Microsoft debuted Mu, a new small language model that powers agentic capabilities in Settings for on-device use on Windows Copilot + PCs.

COMMUNITY

Join our next workshop on Wednesday, June 25th at 3 PM EST with Max Brodeur-Urbas, Founder & CEO at Gumloop. By the end of the workshop, you’ll know how to build production-grade AI agents that combine context, reasoning, and actions with Gumloop.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

That's it for today!

Before you go we’d love to know what you thought of today's newsletter to help us improve The Rundown experience for you.

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Alvaro, and Jason—The Rundown’s editorial team

Reply

or to participate.