OpenAI might be building a phone that kills apps entirely

There’s been chatter about OpenAI’s hardware ambitions for a while now—mostly around those rumored earbuds. But a new note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests something much bigger: OpenAI could be building a full-blown smartphone, and they’re not just slapping ChatGPT on an existing OS.

According to Kuo, OpenAI is working with MediaTek and Qualcomm on a custom smartphone chip, with Luxshare handling co-design and manufacturing. That’s a serious hardware play, not a half-hearted experiment.

What’s more interesting is what Kuo says about the software side. The phone reportedly won’t run traditional apps. Instead, AI agents will handle tasks directly. No app store, no gatekeeping by Apple or Google. OpenAI would control the entire stack, from silicon to system-level AI access.

This isn’t just Kuo speculating. The idea that apps are on the way out has been floating around for a while. Nothing CEO Carl Pei said at SXSW that apps will eventually disappear. And vibe coding app makers are already betting on a future where you don’t download anything—you just ask.

If OpenAI pulls this off, it solves a real problem for them. Right now, ChatGPT runs inside someone else’s ecosystem. Apple and Google decide what system access an AI app gets. By building their own phone, OpenAI can design the hardware and software to work together, giving the AI continuous context about what you’re doing, where you are, and what you need.

Kuo says the phone will use a mix of small on-device models for quick tasks and cloud models for heavier lifting. That’s the sensible approach—nobody wants a phone that needs to ping a server just to open the camera.

Of course, this is still early. Kuo expects component suppliers to be finalized by the end of 2026 or early 2027, with mass production starting in 2028. That’s a long runway. And earlier this year, OpenAI’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane said the company’s first hardware product—likely those earbuds—would arrive in the second half of 2026.

So the phone might be a longer-term bet. But if it happens, it’s going to be interesting to watch how Apple and Google respond. They’ve spent years building app ecosystems that OpenAI is essentially saying are obsolete.

OpenAI didn’t comment on the story. They rarely do. But the pieces are starting to line up.