# AI Hardware & Ecosystem Lock-In Strategies

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-07-16

## Transcript

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OpenAI announces its first hardware device.
I'm Emron Shaikh, and your Thursday Daily Crunch, featuring three big tech headlines, starts right now.
While Kylie Jenner serves as a human billboard for Meta's AI glasses, pop star Lord...
Well, she ain't buying it.
During a set at the Mad Cool Festival in Madrid last week, Lorde had some choice words about the new technology, which many security experts have deemed a privacy nightmare.
Increasingly, in our world, it gets harder and harder to know what is real, Lorde told the audience, continuing.
You don't know if someone is wearing sunglasses or if they're wearing AI glasses.
Don't get the glasses.
Not sexy.
Now, Lorde has written before about throwing her phone into the ocean, but this was next level.
The singer was possibly moved to comment on the latest trends in tech because Ray-Ban, a sponsor of the festival, partners with Meta to make AI glasses.
Lorde also performed immediately before the singer Jenny, who is an ambassador for Ray-Ban Meta's smart glasses line.
And of course, Lord isn't alone in raising concerns.
You see, smart glasses, which come with cameras and AI features, have been used as tools for harassment and extortion.
None of this has stopped the product from having strong sales, though.
SLR Luxottica, the Ray-Ban maker, said it sold more than 7 million meta-AI glasses in 2025.
More than triple the roughly 2 million units it sold in 2023 and 2024 combined.
Google Images, the tech giant's image search engine, is taking on Pinterest with its latest redesign that turns the site into a browsable, dynamic gallery of images from across the web.
Google is also adding a way for users to create AI images right in search as it celebrates 25 years since the debut of Google Images.
Pinterest has long been known for allowing people to browse and save visual inspiration for everything from fashion to home decor.
With this redesign, Google is essentially copying the playbook by turning Google Images into a place for discovery and inspiration and not just search, which could increase users' time spent on Google platforms.
helping boost its ad revenue.
In addition, Google is likely hoping that when users can't find the image they're looking for on Google Images or when they want to visualize something, they'll stay within its ecosystem to create it rather than turn to third-party services like, oh, I don't know, ChatGPT.
After navigating to the redesigned Google Images, users will see a For You gallery of images tailored to their interests and browsing history.
Like Pinterest, the gallery is designed for continuous browsing, with Google saying it updates in real time with new images.
The redesign is rolling out over the coming weeks on desktop in the U.S.
in English.
Users need to be signed into a Google account to try it out, the tech giant says.
OpenAI's first foray into hardware devices is reported to be a mobile smart speaker with integrated AI capabilities that can sync with ChatGPT and provide other home AI services.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the device, which is still currently under development, is designed to be screen-free and is being pitched internally as a human-like AI companion.
that lives in the home.
OpenAI has long claimed that it wants to launch a hardware product, with some rumors being that it wants to launch its own phone, a move that would put it in competition with Apple.
OpenAI's newly surfaced device sounds like something of a departure from traditional smart speakers, as sources describe the device to Bloomberg as having a personality and being able to proactively learn about its owner over time, providing more personalized service.
The machine would have access to a user's digital life, drawing off things like email, sources said.
The device is also weirdly described as involving mechanical elements that can move on their own, and the Bloomberg report includes the detail that the device is designed to feel like a companion and become a physical manifestation of OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Now, OpenAI's push comes as the tech world grows more excited about consumer AI hardware more broadly.
The company hasn't yet detailed its device's form factor, underscoring how much capital is chasing this category even before products ship.
And folks, that's your Daily Crunch.
Today's stories are reported by Aisha Malik, Lucas Ropec, Amanda Silberling, and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow, same Tech Time, same Crunch channel, and until then, find us at TechCrunch.com.