OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman told Samsung’s affiliate presidents “I want to work closely with Samsung to build a joint device”, Korea’s Financial News reported on 11 November, citing what it says is the Q&A from his 31 October meeting with them in Yongin. Asked what kind of device would become an AI companion, he answered “the next version of the smartphone”, according to the paper. Translations from the Korean are ours.
OpenAI already has a device effort of its own: it bought Jony Ive’s firm io for $6.5 billion, as we reported earlier. Financial News reads the remark as OpenAI wanting to build its next device with Samsung to counter Apple; the paper did not report any agreement or any reply from Samsung.
Business Pill · On-Device AI
An evergreen Business Engineer explainer on on-device AI, where models run on the device itself. It teaches the general idea only and does not discuss OpenAI or Samsung.
The key insight: As we read it, Altman is asking for a hardware partner with phone-scale manufacturing while OpenAI already owns a design team: io, bought for $6.5 billion, sits on one side, and Samsung, in Altman’s words to its presidents, on the other.
Altman described the device he wants as one in which “AI, not apps, proactively reaches into and manages your physical and virtual life while getting in the way as little as possible”, the paper reported. He said “the next-generation device will bring in information from the physical world”, and added “but privacy issues and excessive dependence on AI are something society has to manage”.
On AI glasses, he said they “would be great for personal productivity”, but that when the person you are talking to looks elsewhere “it feels like technology is getting between people, so I am uncomfortable with them”. Financial News says OpenAI is preparing a device for next year, most likely a screenless smart speaker smaller than a palm; that is the paper’s description, not Altman’s words.
Altman’s productivity logic as Financial News summarises it from his 31 October Q&A with Samsung’s presidents: AI as a tool for staff lifts productivity two to three times; AI running the entire process, up to 100 times. A claim, not a measured result.
The 100x Pitch to Samsung’s Bosses
Most of the Q&A was about Samsung itself. Altman told the presidents to “go all in and bet on AI”. In the paper’s summary of his logic, AI used as a tool lifts productivity two to three times, while handing it the whole process can lift it up to 100 times. “You have to see whether AI can lead the entire process, not just make staff more efficient, and do it 100 times faster and at a lower price”, he said.
He also pointed to the mobile era: “in mobile too, the companies that moved first survived and most of those that were one to two years late were pushed out”. And he gave a window: “in three to five years, if you are not AI-based you cannot stay competitive”.
Altman’s timing, as Financial News published it: mobile-era companies one to two years late were mostly pushed out; within three to five years, companies that are not AI-based cannot stay competitive. Bar length = upper end of each range.
As we read the Q&A, the device pitch and the 100x pitch are one argument: Altman told Samsung to hand AI whole processes, and described a device in which AI, not apps, manages the user’s life.
As we read the AI-glasses remark, Altman is setting his preferred form apart from camera-on-face devices; Financial News says OpenAI is preparing a screenless smart speaker smaller than a palm for next year.
Sam Altman to Samsung presidents, 31 October, as published by Financial News (our translation)
“I want to work closely with Samsung to build a joint device”
Three Implications
FOR SAMSUNG Altman has put a joint device on the table in front of its presidents, the paper reports; no talks or terms are on record.
FOR OPENAI It already owns io, bought for $6.5 billion, as we reported earlier; the remark adds a possible manufacturing partner to that effort.
FOR OTHER COMPANIES Altman gave a window of three to five years after which, he said, companies that are not AI-based cannot stay competitive.
The framework argues: “Each moat is built by a different data pipeline.”
As we read it, a device that brings in information from the physical world, as Altman described it, is a new data pipeline, and a partner that builds the hardware sits on that pipeline. The framework predates this report and does not discuss Samsung or OpenAI’s device.
What Is Not Established
Financial News did not report any agreement, talks or terms between OpenAI and Samsung on a device, and did not report any response from Samsung. The remark is Altman’s wish as the paper quotes it, not a product announcement. The paper did not say how it obtained the Q&A.
The smart-speaker description and the next-year target are the paper’s, not OpenAI’s. The $6.5 billion io price is from our earlier reporting. We did not contact OpenAI or Samsung.
This Week In The AI Supercycle
The Great Convergence of Capital, Power, and Geopolitics
This week’s issue: for two years the AI build-out was priced as a supply story, and last week as a credit story. This week it was priced as a permission story, and the answer arrived as a cost, not a ban.
Altman told Samsung’s presidents he wants to build a joint device with Samsung and called it the next version of the smartphone, according to Financial News. OpenAI already owns io, bought for $6.5 billion, so the remark puts a possible Samsung role next to its own hardware effort, with nothing agreed on record.
A note on sourcing. We read Financial News’ exclusive of 11 November 2026 in the Korean original; it says it obtained the Q&A from Sam Altman’s 31 October meeting with Samsung’s affiliate presidents. Translations from the Korean are ours. The $6.5 billion io price is from our earlier reporting. We first saw the report in posts on X by @jukan05 and @liquidtrading. We did not contact OpenAI or Samsung.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
