OpenAI could be making a phone with AI agents replacing apps

There have been plenty of rumors about OpenAI’s hardware plans, including reports that the company is working on a pair of earbuds. A new note from industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests the AI company might also be developing a smartphone in collaboration with MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Luxshare.

Potential hardware partners

Kuo, who has reported on several Apple hardware plans in the past, said OpenAI would develop a smartphone chip with MediaTek and Qualcomm, with Luxshare acting as a co-design and manufacturing partner.

AI agents instead of apps

According to Kuo, the smartphone could rely on AI agents to complete different tasks instead of traditional apps. Currently, Apple and Google control the app pipeline and determine the level of system access apps receive, restricting some of their functions. By creating its own smartphone and hardware stack, OpenAI could potentially use AI across a broader range of features without such restrictions.

With ChatGPT nearing a billion weekly users, a daily-use hardware product could help OpenAI expand its reach among consumers.

This vision is not limited to OpenAI. Some developers of so-called “vibe coding” apps have predicted a future without traditional apps. Nothing CEO Carl Pei said at SXSW that apps will eventually go away.

Context-aware design and hybrid models

Kuo believes OpenAI’s smartphone would be designed to continuously understand users’ context. By offering its own phone, OpenAI could gain access to more data about users’ habits than it could through an app running on another company’s device.

The analyst also said the company would use a mix of small on-device models and cloud-based models to handle different types of requests and tasks.

Timeline

Kuo said the smartphone’s specifications and component suppliers are expected to be finalized by the end of this year or by the first quarter of 2027. Mass production of the device is expected to begin in 2028.

Earlier this year, OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane said the company is on track to announce its first hardware product in the second half of 2026. Several reports at the time indicated that device could be uniquely designed earbuds.

OpenAI did not comment on the report at the time of writing.