OpenAI and Jony Ive deal still on as ChatGPT owner scrubs io branding

All mentions of OpenAI's partnership with Jony Ive's startup io have been scrubbed from the company's site, following a trademark dispute.

On Sunday afternoon, users on X noticed that the page on the OpenAI website announcing the company's $6.5 billion acquisition of io was taken down. But following brief speculation that the partnership had crumbled, OpenAI confirmed to The Verge that the deal is still on. Instead, it's related to a trademark dispute involving an AI earbud company called "iyO."

"This page is temporarily down due to a court order following a trademark complaint from iyO about our use of the name 'io,'" the webpage now says. "We don’t agree with the complaint and are reviewing our options." The promotional video is still up on X.

According to an earlier report from Bloomberg Law last week, iyO, which began as a project within Google's Moonshot Factory incubator, filed a trademark lawsuit against OpenAI. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the judge presiding over the lawsuit issued a restraining order Jun. 20 against OpenAI, forcing the company to remove all materials with the "io" name. "The Jony Ive and OpenAI deal is on track and has NOT dissolved or anything of the sort, I’m told," said Gurman on X.

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The OpenAI and io collaboration was announced in late May, with a promotional video and blog post sharing plans to develop a screenless AI companion. Ive, the iconic designer behind the iPhone and other emblematic Apple designs, is leading a team within OpenAI to develop a wearable device that has an awareness of users' surroundings through voice and image support.

iyO makes an AI-powered companion in the form of earbuds. The company is currently accepting pre-orders for its iyO One device, and has argued in its lawsuit that OpenAI's venture has already created confusion. "Momentum 'came to a screeching halt' after io news," Bloomberg Law reported.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.