OpenAI may be planning a 2028 smartphone push with custom chips

OpenAI announced a deal with Broadcom last year to develop custom AI chips to power its next-generation computer clusters. It turns out the company might not stop at custom chips for infrastructure, as the firm apparently has big plans for the smartphone silicon space.

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed on Twitter that OpenAI is working with MediaTek and Qualcomm to create smartphone processors as part of its plan for an AI phone. Mass production is tipped to take place in 2028.

“Power consumption, memory hierarchy management, and basic small-model execution will be key processor design considerations,” the analyst was quoted as saying. Much like today’s top Android phones, Kuo says more complex/demanding tasks will be handled by cloud AI. That’s a no-brainer, as cloud-based AI will always be more powerful and capable than a local AI model.

What about specific chipset features, though? The analyst says we should expect finalized specs and suppliers in late 2026 or Q1 next year.

I imagine that any future custom processor for OpenAI phones would prioritize AI silicon over other hardware bits. This would be broadly in line with Google Pixel phones, which emphasize AI capabilities over raw horsepower. However, some machine learning models fall back to the GPU or CPU if they aren’t optimized for dedicated AI silicon. This might not be an issue if the OpenAI phone only runs in-house models, though. But the new processors can’t make huge compromises to the CPU or GPU if there’s a chance the phone needs to run alternative AI models.

Kuo also hints that the future phone would need to “continuously” understand user context. So I wouldn’t be surprised if the OpenAI chipset has extensive always-on functionality. It wouldn’t be the first mobile processor with this capability, though, as Qualcomm’s Sensing Hub on recent chips also supports “low-power, always-on” scenarios.

Otherwise, Kuo says Chinese supplier Luxshare and Foxconn rival will be the exclusive “system co-design and manufacturing partner.” It certainly sounds like the pieces are coming together for an OpenAI smartphone.

Thanks to Dylan for the tip!