OpenAI Developing Custom Smartphone Chips with MediaTek and Qualcomm
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports that OpenAI is co-designing custom smartphone chips with MediaTek and Qualcomm, with Luxshare responsible for system co-design. Mass production is targeted for 2028. The move signals OpenAI's intent to control the full inference stack — silicon to software — for consumer AI hardware beyond cloud-delivered services.
Why It Matters
Custom silicon is how Apple built its AI inference moat. If OpenAI achieves hardware-native AI at smartphone scale by 2028, it changes the competitive geometry for cloud-first AI companies and positions OpenAI as a platform, not just an API provider. Teams building AI products should watch whether this accelerates or fragments the current OpenAI ecosystem.