Lemkin initially predicted OpenAI's hardware device would be a huge success, but later revised his view to say it is likely "on the bubble" due to changing circumstances.
THEN · May 29, 2025
0:00 / 0:23exact quote · 23.4s
NOW · Jul 16, 2026
0:00 / 0:59exact quote · 59.9s
“This is going to be huge. It will launch in a year. It will be massively subsidized. So it'll be 20 bucks for this device. Okay. They will figure out the form factor. I don't know what the right combination is, whether it's embedded in your ear, like the barista, the cool coffee guys wear, or it's a, it's that lid you wear backwards. And within a year we will be living all day long at AI and the timing will be perfect.”
“Listen, if I had to breathe the tea leaves, hardware is probably on the bubble. This was one of Sam's initiatives that made sense when everything was working and OpenAI had an unassailable lead over, over its competitors, right? Now everything's, you know, we chopped Sora. Why the hell did we buy TBPN? As great as it seemed six months ago, right? Um, hardware seemed like a great deal for six billion when I could get the legendary Johnny Ive, but his team stole everything. What's the point of like, this is just an effing distraction. For something that's gonna hem, it's gonna hemorrhage cash. I totally agree. I'm all in. Well, if we go back 60 weeks ago, I'm all in on persistent AI around us. So Zuck, like with his new eyewear and all that, but this has got to be almost on the cutting board. It's like the apple car. It's got to be close to being cut, and I think the reason this lawsuit may have happened is to push it over the line of getting cut. Just kill it, guys. Like, it's not directly cause and effect, but it really could push it over the line to just, let's, let's put, let's put a pause on this for a year, boys. Let's put a pause on it for a year.”