According to TechCrunch, OpenAI's donut-shaped speaker will reportedly cost $300-$400, versus Amazon's $40-$240 lineup, with launch now set for 2027.
Hardware Design and Specs: What OpenAI's Smart Speaker Reportedly Looks Like
According to TechCrunch, citing Bloomberg, OpenAI's device is "donut-shaped" and screenless, a design meant to let users move it around the home — for example, from a bedside table to a kitchen counter (E1). Bloomberg's sources also told TechCrunch the unit will be built from "high-quality metal" with a "premium look," and will include distinct "moving parts" (E2).
A separate report from Inside.com.tw describes the same device as a screenless smart speaker shaped like a hollow ring, roughly the size of a hockey puck, with an internally discussed price of $300 to $400 and a targeted 2027 launch (E7). On the software side, Inside.com.tw reports that voice interaction will run on OpenAI's new GPT-Live-1 voice model, which OpenAI describes as using a "duplex" architecture that processes input and generates output simultaneously — intended, per OpenAI's own description, to support more natural back-and-forth exchanges, better timing, and even real-time translation (E8).
Pricing Strategy: How $300–$400 Compares to Amazon's Smart Speaker Lineup
TechCrunch reports the device could sell for "perhaps $300 to $400 per unit" (E3). For comparison, the same TechCrunch report notes that most of Amazon's smart home speakers range from $40 at the low end to $240 at the high end (E4).
| Product line | Reported price range | Source |
|---|
| OpenAI smart speaker | $300–$400 | TechCrunch (E3), Inside.com.tw (E7) |
| Amazon smart speakers | $40–$240 | TechCrunch (E4) |
Inside.com.tw's reporting corroborates the figure independently, describing $300 to $400 as the range under internal discussion at OpenAI (E7) — meaning both outlets, sourced separately, converge on the same price band, which sits above the entire Amazon range cited by TechCrunch.
Design Partnership and Timeline: LoveFrom and the Slip to 2027
TechCrunch reports the device is being developed in partnership with LoveFrom, the design studio founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, with a release Bloomberg says will "likely" land sometime in 2027 (E5). Inside.com.tw adds a more specific data point: in a February trademark-lawsuit filing against audio device startup iyO, OpenAI itself stated that its first hardware would not ship to consumers before the end of February 2027 — several months later than the company's original end-of-2026 target (E14).
| Milestone | Date | Source |
|---|
| Original shipping target | End of 2026 | Inside.com.tw (E14) |
| OpenAI's court-filing deadline | End of February 2027 | Inside.com.tw (E14) |
| Bloomberg-reported release window | 2027 | TechCrunch (E5) |
Apple Lawsuit: Trade Secret Allegations and the Court Schedule
TechCrunch reports that Apple has sued OpenAI, accusing it of stealing trade secrets, and that OpenAI has denied wrongdoing (E6). Inside.com.tw provides the procedural detail: Apple filed the trade-secret suit on July 10, and OpenAI has since filed a 31-page motion asking the court to dismiss it, calling the allegations "baseless" (E9).
According to Inside.com.tw, Apple's filing asserts that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, and that Apple's investigation identified 11 former employees who may have been involved or served as witnesses (E10). The same report states that OpenAI is required by court order to formally respond to Apple's preliminary injunction request by August 17, with a hearing scheduled for October 1 (E11).
| Legal event | Date | Source |
|---|
| Apple files trade-secret lawsuit | July 10 | Inside.com.tw (E9) |
| OpenAI files 31-page motion to dismiss | Reported August 6 | Inside.com.tw (E9) |
| OpenAI's deadline to respond to injunction request | August 17 | Inside.com.tw (E11) |
| Injunction hearing | October 1 | Inside.com.tw (E11) |
Market Headwinds: Entering a Shrinking Smart Speaker Category
Inside.com.tw cites IDC global device tracking research director Jitesh Ubrani on the state of the category: worldwide shipments of smart speakers and smart displays fell 16.3% in 2023, another 11.8% in 2024, and 6.7% in 2025; IDC forecasts a further 9.6% decline in 2026, with shipments potentially flattening only in 2027 (E12).
| Year | Shipment change (IDC) |
|---|
| 2023 | -16.3% |
| 2024 | -11.8% |
| 2025 | -6.7% |
| 2026 (forecast) | -9.6% |
| 2027 (forecast) | Flat |
Inside.com.tw also reports that as of 2022, Amazon had not found a way to make Alexa consistently profitable, selling most Echo devices near cost; in the first quarter of 2022, Amazon's Worldwide Digital segment — which includes Alexa, Echo, and Prime Video — recorded an operating loss of $3 billion, with the majority attributed to the voice-assistant business (E13).
What This Means
The numbers reported across TechCrunch and Inside.com.tw sit in tension with each other. OpenAI's device, at a reported $300 to $400, is priced above the entire $40-to-$240 range TechCrunch attributes to Amazon's existing lineup (E3, E4) — even as IDC data cited by Inside.com.tw shows the category it's entering shrank in each of the last three years (16.3%, 11.8%, 6.7%) and is forecast to shrink again in 2026 before potentially flattening in 2027 (E12). That forecast flattening year is also the year OpenAI's hardware is now expected to ship, after slipping from an original end-2026 target to a February 2027 deadline stated in OpenAI's own court filing (E14). Amazon's prior experience in the category, per Inside.com.tw, included a $3 billion quarterly operating loss largely tied to its voice-assistant business (E13) — the cost backdrop against which OpenAI's premium pricing and LoveFrom design partnership (E2, E5) are being reported. The project is also proceeding in parallel with active litigation: Apple's trade-secret suit, filed July 10, has an injunction hearing set for October 1, with OpenAI's response due August 17 (E9, E11).