OpenAI is betting a new “era” of computing will justify the company’s decision to spend billions of dollars on bespoke hardware to go with it, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said.
The artificial intelligence startup, best known for the ChatGPT chatbot, announced plans on Wednesday to buy iPhone designer Jony Ive’s devices startup io for about $6.4 billion. Ive’s company was founded roughly a year ago and doesn’t have a product on the market.
Friar told CNBC on Thursday that any startup as young as io was “hard to value.” But she sees an eventual return on that investment.
“You’re really betting on great people and beyond,” Friar said. “It’s not just about imagining what a new platform could look like — you’ve got to be able to craft it. You’ve got to be able to build it. You’ve got to be able to understand supply chains.”
Friar, who took the CFO job at OpenAI last summer and was formerly CEO of Nextdoor, said new devices will eventually get OpenAI’s technology in the hands of more users, and drive subscription growth and attach rates. ChatGPT last reported 500 million weekly active users, but monthly actives are higher, Friar said.
“When you start thinking about it beyond just a phone, it starts to grab the imagination,” she said. “If we can get people around the world excited to use AI, we have many ways to begin to think of a business model around that. So it could be an ongoing, bigger subscription for ChatGPT.”
Friar’s comments echo others in the tech industry who have said AI hardware could change the face of computing, and threaten the iPhone. Eddy Cue, Apple’s chief of services, said earlier this month that he believes AI devices could replace the iPhone within ten years.
While OpenAI works with Apple on an iPhone and Siri integration, Friar said the company still saw a need to have its own proprietary devices.
“We want to work with many partners. When we single-thread ourselves, we don’t think that drives max innovation,” Friar said. “We continue to work closely with Apple on their device, and we’d love to see more being done with AI — but we also want to keep sparking innovation broadly in the ecosystem.”
Friar hinted at new devices without touchscreens. She declined to give details around what exactly they might look like, pointing to the former Apple team’s secretive culture and “mystique” around products.
“As you birth this new era of AI, there’s going to be new platforms and new substrate,” she said. “We think of tech today as a little bit more around touch. We as humans, we see things, we hear things, we talk. And our models are great at that.”
Apple shares popped 5% Wednesday, ahead of an Oval Office event touting an update to the company’s stated plans to spend and invest in the U.S.
CEO Tim Cook will join President Donald Trump for the announcement set for 4:30 p.m. ET.
Apple will up its previous commitment, made in February, from $500 billion to $600 billion over the next four years, a White House official told CNBC.
It will also announce a new manufacturing program called the American Manufacturing Program, the official said.
Cook has had a mixed relationship with Trump over the past year. While Trump has praised the Apple CEO in the past, in recent months he has said he has a “problem” with the executive and has pushed for Apple to assemble its iPhones in the U.S., not China or India.
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Apple faces over $1 billion in increased costs this quarter because of Trump’s tariffs on imports —primarily related to China — and Cook reminded investors last week that “the vast majority” of its products would be subject to pending new tariffs under a Section 232 investigation.
“We obviously try to optimize our supply chain, and ultimately we will do more in the United States,” Cook said.
Match Group shares popped more than 10% on Wednesday after the online dating company issued upbeat guidance and said new products are showing promise as it attempts to turnaround its business.
The Dallas-based company said it expected revenues between $910 million and $920 million in the current quarter, beating a $890 million estimate from analysts polled by FactSet.
“We are operating like a company that is just getting started, and we believe the best chapters of the category and company are still ahead,” said CEO Spencer Rascoff during an earnings call Tuesday. “We are moving with urgency, we are obsessed with the product and we are building for the long term.”
Over the last year, Match and the broader online dating industry have grappled with slowing user engagement. The company has added more tools and features to its apps, including Tinder and Hinge, to lure back customers, especially Gen Z.
Match has also been the target of activists investors such as Starboard Value, which has pushed the company to innovate, cut costs and improve profitability or consider going private.
In an effort to revamp its business, Match appointed Zillow co-founder Rascoff as its new CEO in February. Under his direction, the company has implemented new artificial intelligence-powered tools and slashed roles.
Match also added new features such as AI-powered discovery to many of its services and a double date feature on Tinder. Rascoff on Tuesday said that 90% or customers using this feature are under age 30.
The company will also target the younger market with features geared toward college students and is planning to reinvest $50 million into new product development, Rascoff said.
In 2026 and 2027, Rascoff said he expects AI innovation and international growth to expand its Hinge platform’s leadership as Tinder becomes a “low-pressure, serendipitous experience designed for Gen Z.” Hinge, he said, is also on track to deliver quarterly year-over-year growth in 2025.
“Across the board, we believe the category will enter a new era, with renewed trust, strong demand and long-term growth potential,” he said.
Match posted in-line earnings of 49 cents per share. Revenues reached $864, topping the $854 million expected by analysts.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the US Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ “Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference” at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2025.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
OpenAI on Wednesday announced it will offer its ChatGPT Enterprise product to U.S. federal agencies for $1 through the next year, making its technology available to the federal executive branch workforce at “essentially no cost.”
The company has been working to deepen its ties to lawmakers and regulators in recent months, and it will open its first office in Washington, D.C., early next year.
OpenAI said participating agencies will get access to its frontier models through ChatGPT Enterprise, and it will also offer access to features like Advanced Voice Mode for an additional 60-day period.
The company has partnered with the U.S. General Services Administration to launch the initiative.
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“Helping government work better – making services faster, easier, and more reliable—is a key way to bring the benefits of AI to everyone,” OpenAI said in a blog post.
In June, OpenAI launched a new offering called OpenAI for Government and said it was awarded a contract of up to $200 million by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The company is currently engaging in talks with investors about a potential stock sale at a valuation of roughly $500 billion, as CNBC previously reported.
OpenAI announced a $40 billion funding round in March at a $300 billion valuation, by far the largest amount ever raised by a private tech company.