OpenAI sets late 2026 window for its first device

The most persistent rumor about OpenAI’s products isn’t about a new model. It’s about a gadget, and the most popular speculation is an ear-worn wearable that keeps an “assistant always available.” A few carefully chosen words in Davos this week made the ChatGPT device rumor harder to dismiss.

The company didn’t show any hardware or confirm what it is working on. But it did provide a public window for when its first device is expected to surface.

What OpenAI said at Davos

At Axios House Davos, OpenAI chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane said the company is “on track” to unveil its first device in the second half of 2026.

This is the first time OpenAI has committed to a public window. Lehane also described “devices” as one of OpenAI’s “big coming attractions” for 2026 and said he’d have news to share “much later in the year.”

But what he declined to confirm is almost as significant. Lehane wouldn’t say whether this device is “a pin, an earpiece or something else entirely.” Nor did he promise availability in 2026, calling late 2026 “the most likely” timeline and adding, “we will see how things advance.”

Why a device changes the game for ChatGPT

If OpenAI ships a successful device, it stops being just an app living inside someone else’s ecosystem. Right now, even with massive reach, it relies on phones, operating systems, and hardware over which it has no control.

It’s also arriving in a market littered with cautionary tales. Products like Humane’s AI Pin were a reminder that it’s not easy to make a new category stick, even when it sounds inevitable.

The “Sweet Pea” leak and the chip chatter

The rumor mill surrounding OpenAI’s first hardware offering can be traced back to the same leak, and that’s where the confusion often begins. Some reports refer to it as “earbuds,” but the leaked information, spread by leaker Smart Pikachu and summarized this week, sketches something closer to a behind-the-ear wearable: two pill-shaped modules that rest behind the ear and store in an egg-shaped case.

Reports tie the project to the codename “Sweet Pea” and suggest the hardware could feature a custom 2-nanometer processor to run more AI tasks locally. None of these details are confirmed by OpenAI, but collectively, they explain why the ear-worn rumor keeps resurfacing.

Why the ear-worn theory fits OpenAI’s audio direction

The ear-worn idea is more than just wishful thinking. Voice is one of the few interfaces that can be present all day without asking for more screen time, and OpenAI has been making steady improvements to its audio stack.

In late December, OpenAI highlighted updates for developers building with voice, including improvements in text-to-speech accuracy and reliability that fit the kind of “always-on” audio experience an ear-worn device would need.

Until OpenAI reveals the hardware, the form factor and chip claims are provisional. But the ambition is now official: OpenAI is trying to leave the screen and build an ecosystem in the physical world.