OpenAI has acquired California-based smartphone camera startup Glass Imaging in a deal valued at over $300 million, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and other outlets. The transaction, completed quietly over recent months, pushes the startup’s valuation well past the roughly $100 million figure it reached during a funding round last year.
### Acquisition Value and Investor Backing
According to financial figures reported by The Wall Street Journal and cited by Yahoo Finance, the buyout lifts Glass Imaging’s valuation past $300 million. Prior to the acquisition, the startup had secured approximately $30 million from high-profile backers. Alphabet’s venture arm, GV, and Insight Partners participated in those earlier fundraising rounds.
### Technology and Apple Roots
Glass Imaging was founded in 2019 by Ziv Attar and Tom Bishop, both former Apple engineers who worked on camera technology, including the iPhone’s portrait-mode feature. According to reporting from Yahoo Finance, the founders believed smartphone camera technology had reached a point where improvements were becoming harder to achieve. Their solution combines hardware and software to capture smartphone photos with image quality comparable to DSLR cameras, while reducing blur and correcting lens imperfections.
Before the OpenAI buyout, Glass Imaging’s zoom-imaging technology was incorporated into a new range of smartphones from Chinese budget-phone maker Honor, as noted by Yahoo Finance.
### Connection to Jony Ive and Mystery Device Plans
The purchase aligns with OpenAI’s broader push into consumer hardware. According to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is developing a secretive AI device in collaboration with Jony Ive, the former Apple executive who played a big role in designing the iPhone. OpenAI brought Ive into its fold through its acquisition of his startup, io Products.
Anthony Cuthbertson reported for The Independent that OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has described the unannounced product as an unobtrusive pocket or desk device capable of being fully aware of a user’s surroundings. The mystery gadget is expected to be unveiled next year, ahead of OpenAI’s expected initial public offering.
Keep reading