OpenAI might be building a phone that kills apps

There’s been chatter about OpenAI making hardware for a while now — mostly around a pair of earbuds. But a new note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests something bigger: a full-blown smartphone.

According to Kuo, who has a decent track record with Apple leaks, OpenAI is teaming up with MediaTek and Qualcomm to develop a custom smartphone chip. Luxshare, the company that assembles a lot of Apple’s stuff, would handle co-design and manufacturing.

Here’s the interesting part: Kuo says this phone wouldn’t run traditional apps. Instead, AI agents would handle tasks directly. No App Store, no Google Play, no gatekeepers. Think about it — right now Apple and Google control what apps can do, what system access they get, how much data they can touch. OpenAI wants to bypass all that.

With ChatGPT approaching a billion weekly users, a dedicated hardware device makes sense. It’s a way to own the entire experience, not just be another app on someone else’s phone.

This isn’t an isolated idea either. Vibe coding app makers have been predicting a post-app future for a while. Nothing’s Carl Pei said at SXSW that apps will eventually disappear. OpenAI seems to agree.

Kuo also mentions the phone would be designed to continuously learn user context — your habits, routines, preferences — by having deeper system access than any third-party app could dream of. It would run a mix of small on-device models for quick stuff and cloud models for heavier lifting.

The timeline is vague but plausible: component suppliers and specs should be finalized by end of 2026 or Q1 2027, with mass production starting in 2028.

Earlier this year, OpenAI’s Chris Lehane confirmed the company is on track to announce its first hardware product in the second half of 2026 — likely those earbuds. But a phone? That’s a different league.

OpenAI didn’t comment on this report, and honestly, it’s still early. But if Kuo is right, we’re looking at a device that fundamentally rethinks what a smartphone is. No app icons. No notifications from dozens of services. Just an AI that figures out what you need and does it.

I’m skeptical about the timeline — 2028 feels optimistic for something this ambitious. But the direction is clear: OpenAI wants to own the hardware layer, not just the software. And if anyone can pull off an app-less phone, it’s the company that made chatbots mainstream.