OpenAI's $6.4 Billion Io Merger Overshadowed by Deepfake Debate

OpenAI recently released a video featuring CEO Sam Altman and Jony Ive discussing the merger of Ive’s hardware startup Io with the AI lab. The video, set in a San Francisco café, has sparked widespread speculation about its authenticity, with many viewers questioning whether the footage is AI-generated.

Altman is investing approximately $6.4 billion in equity to bring Io under the OpenAI umbrella, with the promise of a device that will revolutionize personal computing. However, the internet's focus has shifted from the financial details to the possibility that the video is a deepfake. Viewers have scrutinized the footage frame by frame, debating the realism of the latte foam, camera angles, and lighting.

One viewer pointed out that the camera shift at 1:10 in the video is "not possible yet," while another argued that the lighting and denoise filter could make even real people appear unnatural. The absence of Waymo vehicles in the San Francisco scene was cited as evidence that the location is not real. Additionally, a balcony video surfaced, adding to the confusion about the authenticity of the footage.

The video has been praised for its hype and criticized for its ethical implications. Some viewers have argued that releasing an undisclosed AI-generated video deserves "crippling sanctions," while others have shrugged off the controversy, noting that the algorithms have finally captured conversational awkwardness. The actual hardware roadmap and the impact of the video on it have been largely overlooked in the debate.

Despite the speculation, the merger between OpenAI and Io is proceeding as planned, with the goal of shipping a pocketable device by 2026. The authenticity of the launch livestream, whether it features real humans or AI-generated avatars, will depend on the available GPU budget. OpenAI is likely viewing each view of the video as market research, and if the headset-less gizmo ever ships, nostalgia for the days when people trusted their own eyes may set in.