This video interview between Jony Ive and Sam Altman has now been removed — Image Credit: OpenAI
A nine-minute video with Jony Ive and Sam Altman discussing their recently acquired AI startup has been withdrawn because of a challenge to their “io” name.
While the existence of Ive and Altman’s AI startup was reported as long ago as April 2024, it wasn’t until a year later that its name was known. Even then, inApril 2025, it was initially reported that it was called “io Projects.”
By the time that the company was bought by Altman’s OpenAi for $6.5 billion in May 2025, it had been officially announced under the name “io.” Now as first spotted by TechCrunch, that name is proving to be a problem.
A firm called iyO has taken to court to object over the name io and claim that it is, or will, create consumer confusion over its own AI products. The iyO firm comes from the research and development Alphabet X project, and is an AI device that relies solely on speech.
While the case is still to be decided, Judge Trina L. Thompson held a discussion on or about June 18, 2025, concerning the issue. Judge Thompson has seemingly now granted iyO’s temporary restraining order.
No details have been released, but OpenAI has removed all mention of io in its promotional materials, including the nine-minute video interview between Ive and Altman.
“This page is temporarily down due to a court order following a trademark complaint from iyo about our use of the name ‘io,'” says an announcement on OpenAI’s site where it previously hosted the video. “We don’t agree with the complaint and are reviewing our options.”
Almost nothing is known about Ive and Altman’s planned device, other than that it will be an AI-based one. In a TED talk in April 2024, iyO CEO Jason Rugolo revealed — and used — his firm’s first device, the iyO One.
Jason Rugolo, CEO of iyO, wearing his firm’s inconspicuous AI earbud — image credit: iyo/TED Talks
Reminiscent of the failed Humane AI Pin, but intended to be worn in the ear, the demonstrated model is like a very large and conspicuous earbud. Rugolo says that iyO One represents a “new kind of natural language computing” that relies on “genuine, engaging conversation.”
The iyO One is available for pre-order for $99 and is due to ship in August 2025.
