Hello, and a very happy 📅 to you! Yes, it’s July 17—the one day a year your calendar emoji is actually correct. Why is 📅 permanently stuck on today’s date? You’ll have to scroll down to Old Thing #1 to find out. And yes, there’s an Old Thing #2. Making up for all our lost time last week!
But first: A recap of all the OpenAI device news and Apple drama in a deeply serious letter to OpenAI’s mysterious new gadget. Then, some weekend viewing: my latest feature video on how I’ve taken up a side hustle as a robot trainer.
‼️ REMINDER: If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. You’ll get Wednesday’s subscriber-only newsletter, special editions and a lot more of my technology adventures. ‼️
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: Reuters, ChatGPT
I don't know what you are yet. A desk puck? A speaker? A pendant? A pair of glasses? A dog collar? A spelunking helmet? But I do know you've already started a fight.
Last week, Apple sued your maker, OpenAI, alleging that two former Apple employees who now work at OpenAI misappropriated Apple trade secrets to help build OpenAI's hardware business.
And, well, you.
OpenAI denies the allegations. The company said in a statement: “We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. While we take these allegations seriously, we’re not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit."
The funny thing is, the lawsuit isn't really about you. It's about the possibility of you. Or, more accurately, the possibility of what happens if OpenAI becomes the next great hardware company.
Which brings us to the Ive in the room. For nearly three decades at Apple, Jony Ive helped design the company’s most iconic products, including the iMac, iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. He left the company in 2019, and six years later OpenAI acquired one of his companies, called io Products, and now it’s working to build whatever you are.
Reports have suggested everything from a wearable companion to a device that sits on your desk. The leading theory right now, according to reporting from Bloomberg and the Information, is that you are a smart speaker. But from years of listening to OpenAI chief Sam Altman talk about AI hardware, here's what I know about you:
You are not a smartphone. While there are reports OpenAI has plans to build one, the initial device isn't a phone. “You might want to interact with it in a different way than typing and looking at a screen,” Altman said on the OpenAI podcast in 2025, discussing why he thought AI required a new type of computer.
You have a voice and sensors. Altman said on his brother’s Uncapped Podcast last year that AI enables a new sci-fi-like computer. “The form factor really matters, if it’s with you all the time and full of sensors,” he said, adding that it should understand what’s happening around you, keep track of lots of stuff and respond to small, simple commands.
You have brothers and sisters. When announcing the iO acquisition, Altman and Ive both said they were building a family of devices.
Will this lawsuit delay your arrival? Who knows. But I understand why Apple is worried about you.
For years, ChatGPT was just an app on the iPhone—and, awkwardly, a service Apple itself integrated into Siri. Now Apple is confronting the possibility that OpenAI, with the designer behind some of its most iconic products, could build a new kind of computer that rivals its own. 🍿
Looking forward to meeting you. Whatever you are.
All best,
Joanna
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Did you miss our latest video, where I strapped an iPhone camera to my head, did chores and attempted to personally usher in the robot revolution in exchange for about $55?
This weekend, sit back, relax and learn why humanoid robots have a massive data problem—and why companies are now paying regular people to film their hands folding laundry, loading dishwashers and picking up dog poop.
This Old Thing is not from a community member, unless you count Steve Jobs as a community member.
If you’re a frequent emoji user, you may have noticed that the calendar emoji says “July 17.” 📅 Every. Single. Day. And today, for once, it’s right!
So, why that date? Exactly 24 years ago today, Steve Jobs unveiled Apple’s iCal at Macworld Expo 2002.
"I’d like to introduce a new app today called iCal,” Jobs said. “We have created the best calendar that I’ve ever seen on a computer.”
And by 2002 standards, iCal was pretty great. Jobs called it the first calendar built for the internet age. It allowed you to view multiple calendars in a single interface and share them with other people. Features we take for granted today, but ones that felt genuinely novel at the time.
No wonder Apple wanted to have memorialized in everlasting emoji history. 📅 📆 🗓️ Because of this, today is World Emoji Day. Send at least one 📅 to a friend in honor of the occasion.
Name: Clayton Dewberry
What's your old thing? HP 100LX strapped to an Ericsson MOBiDEM
What year is your old thing from? Early ‘90s
Why do you love your old thing? In the early ’90s I worked for a U.S. firm, RAM Mobile Data. It was an Ericsson-Bell South partnership to promote the growth of their packet-radio network, Mobitex. We sold two-way wireless data before two-way pagers existed. It was pretty cool. Using software called RadioMail, you could send a wireless email from point A to B in under five seconds. We used an HP 100LX strapped to an Ericsson MOBiDEM, connected by a short serial cable. That was the precursor to the two-way pager, and eventually the Blackberry.
Have a great day 📅 ! This newsletter was written and curated by Joanna Stern and Adele Lowitz.
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