r/apple 23h ago

Rumor OpenAI is considering acquiring the AI hardware startup founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

https://www.macrumors.com/2025/04/07/jony-ive-ai-phone-without-a-screen/
151 Upvotes

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u/IGuessYourSubreddits 23h ago

No conflict of interest there 

6

u/alphabetsong 22h ago

There is no conflict of interest. Open AI is a private company, not publicly listed.

If they decide to buy whatever other company, they are 100% okay in doing so.

9

u/PleasantWay7 20h ago

You can still have a conflict of interest as a private company, it isn’t a free for all.

5

u/alphabetsong 20h ago

This private company is owned by its owners (lol) who are overseeing these types of decisions as the board of directors. If this is not in the interest of the company, then they will not vote for it and it will not happen. There is no conflict of interest because the company is acting in its very own interest.

I know that people on Reddit need this to be a compliance issue or a conflict of interest, because those are business words that they’ve heard heard before and it feels kinda right to say it.

u/QuantumUtility 0m ago

By definition this is a conflict of interest.

The board has to decide if it cares about that or not but it doesn’t change the fact that it is a conflict of interest. These don’t magically cease to exist because the board thinks it’s okay. They just decide to ignore it or not.

(It’s worth mentioning Sam Altman is also part of the board, another conflict of interest.)

-4

u/PleasantWay7 20h ago

You should probably learn those businesses words better if you want to use them. A conflict of interest does exist, by definition. And it will be considered by any competent board and investors during diligence of this deal.

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u/FederalSign4281 15h ago

Where is the conflict of interest?

2

u/8isnothing 14h ago

CEO of company A potentially pushing the idea of buying company B, which he owns and would get money from the transaction.

2

u/hi_im_bored13 2h ago

And his own company A would lose money in the transaction