Welcome back to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• 💲 OpenAI acquires Jony Ive's startup for $6.4 billion

• 👓 Google’s take on AI smart glasses

• 🕵🏻‍♂️ Google AI Mode in search expanded

• 🧠 AGI by 2030?

Let’s get right into it!

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STARTUPS

OpenAI acquires Jony Ive's startup for $6.4 billion

OpenAI is acquiring Jony Ive’s AI hardware startup, io, in a $6.4 billion all-equity deal, marking its largest acquisition to date and a significant step into developing physical AI products. Ive, the legendary designer behind Apple’s iPhone and MacBook, will take on deep creative and design responsibilities across both OpenAI and io, while his design firm LoveFrom will remain independent. Founded just a year ago by Ive and other Apple veterans, io will now integrate with OpenAI’s research, engineering, and product teams in San Francisco to design and build new AI-powered hardware devices.

According to a joint statement by Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the goal is to create products that “inspire, empower, and enable” users—blending world-class design with cutting-edge AI. This move supports OpenAI’s broader push to bring AI into the physical world, following other strategic steps including the acquisition of Windsurf, investment in robotics startup Physical Intelligence, and hiring Meta’s former AR lead to head its hardware efforts.

BIG TECH

Google’s take on AI smart glasses

At I/O 2025, Google unveiled its latest take on smart glasses—"Glasses with Android XR"—developed in partnership with Samsung and powered by Gemini AI. These next-gen glasses can pair with a smartphone to access apps, feature built-in speakers, and include an optional in-lens display for private viewing. Prioritizing style and real-world usability, Google is working with eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, backing the latter with up to $150 million split between product development and a potential equity investment.

In a live demo, the glasses attempted real-time translation between Farsi and Hindi, and despite some glitches, briefly showcased successful translations. Another demo highlighted Gemini’s ability to answer contextual questions about images and surroundings, hinting at a more immersive, AI-enhanced wearable experience.

BIG TECH

AI-powered filmmaking

At Google I/O, Google introduced Flow, a new AI filmmaking app designed to help creators develop video storyboards and scenes by combining AI tools like Veo (video), Imagen (images), and Gemini (language). Building on previous experiments like VideoFX, Flow enables users to extend footage with physics-aware realism, control camera movement and angles, and edit shots with transitions—all while managing assets and prompts in one system.

Though still showing early-stage AI imperfections, Flow benefits from collaboration with professional filmmakers who provided feedback during its development. Currently available to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US—with limited and unlimited generation quotas respectively—Flow aims to offer richer, more consistent video creation tools and will expand to more countries soon.

BIG TECH

AGI by 2030?

At Google I/O, Demis Hassabis (CEO of DeepMind) and Sergey Brin (Google co-founder) joined Alex Kantrowitz for a live interview exploring AI’s cutting edge. They discussed whether scaling AI models has limits, the role of new reasoning techniques, the meaning and timeline of artificial general intelligence (AGI), and the possibility of an intelligence explosion.

The conversation covered advances like DeepMind’s reasoning paradigm, self-improving AI with AlphaEvolve, Project Astra visual agents, lessons from Google Glass, and challenges with training data quality. The session concluded with a lightning round addressing topics such as the web, AGI predictions, and even whether we live in a simulation.