As OpenAI faces a major legal threat from Elon Musk over its future, the company behind ChatGPT is reportedly pressing ahead with expanded hardware ambitions.
The company has previously been linked to a possible release of AI earbuds later this year or early 2027, but now it’s said to be working on a smartphone in partnership with component-makers MediaTek, Qualcomm and Luxshare. Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported on X over the weekend that MediaTek and Qualcomm would help design a smartphone chip for the device, while Luxshare would act as a co-design and manufacturing partner.
Most premium Android phones coming out in 2026 will use either Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 or MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 chips, so it makes sense for OpenAI to tap the companies making processors for most of the top-end phones that come out every year.
For years, both MediaTek and Qualcomm have envisioned AI agents as the future of how people will use their phones, handling tasks across multiple apps for you. AI agents would be at the core of OpenAI’s smartphone, Kuo said, effectively eliminating the need for separate apps.
“Users are not trying to use a pile of apps,” Kuo said. “They are trying to get tasks done and fulfill needs through the phone. This fundamentally changes how people think about smartphones.”
OpenAI’s hardware ambitions have included a high-profile partnership with former Apple designer Jony Ive. One recent rumor was that the devices could include one worn in the ear, but that OpenAI could have as many as five different devices ready by the end of 2028.
At the same time, OpenAI has been reportedly trying to cut down on so-called “side quests,” axing its Sora video generator and putting a planned ChatGPT “adult mode” on hiatus in favor of a more productivity-focused “super app” said to be built around the Codex coding tool.
Read also: ChatGPT Images 2: Why OpenAI Built a New Image Model After Killing Sora
Kuo reported that specifications and suppliers for the rumored smartphone are expected to be done by the end of the year or the first quarter of 2027, with production expected in 2028.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
