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OpenAI’s Theatrical Exec Comms Performance 🤸‍♂️🎥🤔

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Ash + Lizzy
May 24, 2025

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This week, OpenAI delivered a blockbuster of a launch announcement: the $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive’s hardware startup, io, with the legendary designer himself and his LoveFrom collective taking the creative reins at OpenAI. 

The goal? To reimagine the very nature of computing hardware for the AI era, with a promise to move beyond screens and deliver a “family of devices” that could rival the iPhone in cultural impact.

They pulled out all the stops:

  • A cinematic, nine-minute video starring Sam Altman and Jony Ive, staged as a fireside chat in a San Francisco coffee shop, brimming with nostalgia and optimism.

  • Joint statements dripping with gravitas, referencing “human achievement,” “delight,” and the “ink of a new generation of technology”.

  • Carefully coordinated press coverage across every major outlet, with the tech world’s most famous designer and Silicon Valley’s current AI kingpin front and center.

  • Hints (but no details) of a mysterious, screen-free, contextually aware device that’s “not glasses, not a smartphone, not wearable”—just a “third core device” for the post-iPhone age.

It was a lot.

The Showmanship

OpenAI’s announcement was a masterclass in direct executive comms—big personalities, big promises, and a script that felt more like Oscar night than a hardware merger. The video leaned heavily on the mystique of Silicon Valley: innovation, friendship, and the idea that this moment is as important as the dawn of the personal computer.

Sam Altman and Jony Ive traded lines about optimism and responsibility, with Altman promising “the coolest piece of technology the world will have ever seen” and Ive waxing poetic about the “delight, wonder, and creative spirit” of his early Apple days.

But the performance sometimes overshadowed the message. The video’s theatrical tone—complete with sweeping statements and nostalgia-laden soundbites—left some viewers wondering if they were watching a product launch or an audition for the next Steve Jobs biopic.

The Distribution

OpenAI nailed the distribution playbook (although, not hard when you’re one of the largest, most buzzed about companies in the world):

  • Press coverage in every major tech and business outlet.

  • A glossy, highly produced video asset for social and web.

  • Carefully timed leaks about the device’s form factor, stoking curiosity and speculation.


But for all the sizzle, the steak was missing. 

The announcement was long on vision and short on specifics—no product details, no demos, not even a name for the first device. The online chatter quickly shifted from excitement to skepticism: Is this the next iPhone, or just the next Humane AI Pin? Is OpenAI’s hardware play a genuine leap forward, or just a high-budget hype cycle?

Where It Landed

The comms strategy was bold, but not without risks:

  • Owning the narrative: OpenAI and Ive tried to seize the story, but the lack of concrete details left room for confusion and memes. Apple’s stock even dipped on the news, but the market seemed unsure what to make of it.

  • Founder as influencer: Altman and Ive’s personal brands were the launch. But the theatricality may have alienated some of the more skeptical or pragmatic corners of the tech world.

  • Behind the curtain: The announcement hinted at years of secret collaboration, but gave little insight into the actual process, challenges, or prototypes—leaving the “how” as mysterious as the “what”.

Lessons for 2025 Launches

  • Balance vision with substance: Big personalities and big ideas can grab attention, but audiences crave specifics. Even a glimpse of the device, or a behind-the-scenes look at the design process, would have grounded the narrative.

  • Embrace, don’t just perform, authenticity: Theatrical comms can inspire, but they can also feel overproduced. The best executive comms in 2025 blend vision with vulnerability and real talk.

  • Seed the right details: Teasing a revolutionary device without any concrete features invites skepticism. Strategic leaks or a tangible prototype could have kept the hype cycle spinning in OpenAI’s favor.

The Bottom Line

OpenAI’s announcement was a spectacle—an executive comms performance worthy of the main stage. It set the narrative for the next era of AI hardware, but it also showed the limits of style without substance. In 2025, the audience wants more than a show: they want to see what’s behind the curtain, and they want to know what’s coming next.

For now, all eyes are on OpenAI and Jony Ive. The curtain’s up. The world is waiting for the real act to begin.

📱 New in non-traditional media

Tracking the newsletters, podcasts, and creators reshaping media influence.

📰 In the news

  • Chuck Todd goes the creator route. The ex-NBC host is launching "Sunday Night With Chuck Todd" on Noosphere, a new journalist-creator platform where he'll conduct interviews in D.C. restaurants and bars rather than traditional studios. Starting June 1, the show marks a notable pivot toward the independent media economy for veteran political journalists.

  • Digiday axes senior marketing editor. Kristina Monllos, who spent six years covering brands and marketing innovation at Digiday, was among recent layoffs at the publication. She's already pivoting to Substack — another sign that experienced trade reporters are betting on newsletter independence over traditional media stability.

  • Politico union takes AI fight to arbitration. The Politico and E&E News union alleges the company violated their contract by rolling out AI tools without proper notice or bargaining opportunities. With no federal AI rules in place, this July arbitration could set a precedent for how newsroom unions handle AI implementation nationwide.

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⭐️ Favorite story of the week:

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Here’s a real pitch we used to land expert commentary coverage for our client:

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💫 Client wins

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