OpenAI is reportedly building its own smartphone

OpenAI is working on its own smartphone, with AI agents handling tasks that today run inside apps, according to a research note from industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Kuo, who has reported on several Apple hardware plans in the past, says OpenAI is developing a custom smartphone chip together with MediaTek and Qualcomm. Luxshare would act as the co-design and manufacturing partner.

The central design idea is to remove apps from the phone almost entirely. Rather than tapping icons, users would delegate tasks to AI agents running on the device. Kuo argues that owning the full hardware stack would let OpenAI bypass the access restrictions Apple and Google impose on third-party apps, opening up AI features that are currently limited by those platforms.

The phone is also expected to run a mix of small on-device models and cloud models, handling different types of requests and tasks. Kuo says the device would be designed to continuously understand user context, giving OpenAI access to more data about user habits than an app on someone else's phone could.

According to the note, specifications and component suppliers should be finalised by the end of 2026 or in the first quarter of 2027. Mass production is expected to start in 2028.