The Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI has acquired smartphone camera maker Glass Imaging in a deal worth more than $300 million. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Los Altos, California, the company has raised approximately $30 million in funding from investors.
Glass Imaging was founded by Ziv Attar and Tom Bishop, two former Apple engineers who previously led the team that developed Apple’s Portrait mode. This background directly influences the work they are currently doing at Glass Imaging, which uses AI to overcome the limitations of the physical size of smartphone cameras. Rather than using AI to edit photos after they’ve been taken, Glass Imaging uses neural networks to learn from individual camera systems (such as different cameras on different smartphone models) to produce better images from the moment the shutter is clicked.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ChatGPT makers are rumored to be developing their own hardware, including smartphones, earphones, and AI companion devices.
In 2025, when OpenAI acquired Ive’s company for $6.5 billion, it was revealed that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and noted Apple designer Jony Ive had been collaborating on a device startup called io.
