OpenAI is working with chipmakers Qualcomm and MediaTek on a custom processor for an AI-native smartphone.
According to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Chinese manufacturer Luxshare is down as the exclusive system co-design and manufacturing partner, putting it squarely on the hook for building the thing.
This is pitched as a proper consumer hardware push, with the handset designed around AI agents from day one rather than bolting a chatbot onto the usual slab.
Kuo reckons mass production will start in 2028, with the specs and supplier list meant to be locked in by late 2026 or early 2027.
If it somehow hits commercial scale, the analyst is talking annual shipments of 300 to 400 million units, more than the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple’s iPhone output. That would dump OpenAI into a street fight with Job’s Mob and the other firm that together sit on around 40 per cent of the global smartphone market.
Kuo said: “Only by fully controlling both the operating system and hardware can OpenAI deliver a comprehensive AI agent service. The smartphone is the only device that captures the user’s full real-time state, which is the most important input for real-time AI agent inference.”
The chatter reportedly pushed Qualcomm stock up as much as 13 per cent in premarket trading on 27 April, even though Qualcomm, OpenAI and MediaTek have not confirmed anything publicly.
This runs alongside OpenAI’s other hardware dabbling with Jony Ive’s design firm, io, which it bought for $6.5 billion, with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman previously hinting that the gadget is not meant to be a smartphone.
