AI company OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, is now preparing to challenge Apple and Samsung. According to media reports, the company is working on its first AI phone. Instead of navigating through multiple apps, it will rely on AI to complete tasks for users. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo posted on X that says OpenAI is rapidly advancing the development of its first AI agent smartphone and expects to start mass production by the first half of 2027. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, this is a growing competition in the field of AI-powered smartphones or agent phones, where companies are trying to offer more advanced AI features.
In his previous post on X, Kuo mentioned that OpenAI has partnered with both MediaTek and Qualcomm to develop processors for smartphones. However, it appears that due to the improved specifications, OpenAI has finalized MediaTek as the sole supplier for the smartphone processor.
The smartphone’s processor will be based on the Dimensity 9600 and will be manufactured using the TSMC N2P node (2nm-class semiconductor node). Production is expected to begin in the second half of 2026. Other key features include dual-NPU architecture for AI compute, LPDDR6 + UFS 5.0 to address memory bottlenecks, and pKVM and inline hashing for security. Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in an X post that if development continues at the right pace, total shipments could reach around 30 million units in 2027-2028.
In his previous post about phones, Kuo said that OpenAI is currently focusing on AI agents on phones because phones have location, communication, and context. This allows AI agents to work better on phones than on any other device. In terms of business model, OpenAI could bundle subscriptions with hardware and create a new AI agent ecosystem by engaging developers.
