[Global Times special correspondent Feng Yaren in the United States, Global Times reporter Ding Yazhi]The editor says:In 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) giant OpenAI set its sights on the smart hardware market after gaining a firm foothold in the software space. The company that set off the AI revolution with ChatGPT is trying to build a new line of wearable AI electronics. Behind Silicon Valley giants knocking on the "hardware door", more and more Chinese companies are revealing. Industry insiders told the Global Times reporter that "Intelligent Manufacturing in China" has evolved from the low end of the industrial chain to a "technical conspirator" of AI hardware, and American technology companies may be even more inseparable from China in the future.

Silicon Valley giant attracts Chinese smart manufacturing companies

The American technology magazine Wired reported that at OpenAI's developer conference held in San Francisco, USA on October 6, its CEO Sam Ultraman and former Apple designer Joni Ive jointly confirmed that OpenAI is developing a variety of hardware products. Ive said his team has come up with "15 to 20 very attractive products". Recently, OpenAI has continued to "poach" Apple's hardware design team, recruiting a large number of hardware engineers and designers focusing on user interfaces, wearables, cameras and audio engineering. Some analysts believe that OpenAI's move is aimed at Apple to create a next-generation network of technology hardware products. It has been reported that OpenAI plans to develop a completely different kind of smart hardware from smartphones and laptops. In May of this year, OpenAI acquired the startup founded by Ive. In the same month, Ultraman told employees that it planned to launch 100 million devices designed jointly with Ive and called them artificial intelligence "companions."

According to the U.S. Futurism website, one of the core concepts of the product design is "no screen", which will rely on cameras, microphones and speakers to interact with users. A source in the Financial Times revealed that it may even be equipped with multiple cameras. In addition, unlike traditional voice assistants, it doesn't need a wake-up word and is always on, unlike Apple's "Hey, Siri" wake-up word trigger mode, the device will always be on, building "memories" by continuously collecting audio and visual threads.

Previously, many Silicon Valley companies have been exploring the integration of artificial intelligence software into consumer hardware. "Wired" magazine reported that metaverse revealed that it has sold about 2 million pairs of its artificial intelligence glasses since 2023, and recently announced that it will launch a number of new models. In addition, there are numerous more unique or segmented products on the market, such as the "Friend" necklace and plush pet toys with artificial intelligence capabilities.

OpenAI has not yet disclosed the scheduled release time of its smart devices, but according to the Financial Times, the end of 2026 may be the release window of the product. However, the development of some devices has been hindered by technical problems. OpenAI's hardware attempts are not unique, and many smart hardware "pioneers" are not completely failed, but also facing a major challenge. Last year, Connect magazine rated a U.S. enterprise-designed, voice-controlled handheld AI assistant Rabbit R1 as "the overall use experience is bad". This trend or represents a major future trend in the AI industry, developing large models of enterprises are expected to go down, personally manufacturing smart devices, hoping to the interaction of the new era without relying on smart phones or other traditional electronic devices, but the difficulty of

In this context, Chinese smart manufacturing enterprises have begun to get pulled by the Silicon Valley giants.Many US media outlets, OpenAI, have signed agreements with Apple suppliers, such as Mail Intelligence, plans to build a consumer-grade device in the future, which involves either smart glasses, smart audio recording devices and other wearable smart devices.According to sources, Mail Intelligence has obtained assembly contracts for at least one OpenAI device.Sounds similar to Goal shares, OpenAI has exploded and participated in the assembly of Goal shares of Apple's AirPods, HomePods and AppleWatch, hoping to supply speaker modules and other components for its future products.

"The focus of foreign enterprises on 'Made in China' technology cooperation is changing"

Talking about the origin and future trend of cooperation between China and the United States in the field of AI intelligent hardware, Lou Jinqiang, chief operating officer of Liangliang Vision, a Chinese intelligent consumer electronics manufacturer who held orders from many foreign technology companies this year, told the Global Times reporter that in the past, "Made in China" has long been in the middle assembly link of the industrial chain, and American companies have mastered both ends of R&D, design and brand services. Take Apple as an example. Its core technologies and brands are all in the United States, and China undertakes manufacturing and assembly.

"Recently, in the process of cooperating with international customers such as the United States, we deeply feel that the focus of foreign companies on 'Made in China' technical cooperation is changing." Lou Jianqiang believes that in the early days, American companies paid more attention to cost advantages, but now they pay more attention to the synchronization of yield and technology. Taking the silicon carbide optical waveguide technology required for smart glasses products as an example, scientific research institutions and enterprises in China and the United States are simultaneously tackling key problems, showing the trend of reciprocal cooperation in key areas. This trend is reshaping the division of labor in the global industrial chain.

"Currently, Chinese companies have formed a closed loop in smart consumer electronics products, especially those involving AI hardware manufacturing, R&D and brand services. Only some AI services still need to be connected to large American models." Liu Hongjie, founder, chairman and CEO of intelligent hardware supplier Jiutian Ruixin, told the Global Times reporter that in the intelligent AI industry, the United States has its advantages. "If we can give full play to the advantages of this hardware chain, it may be that American technology companies are even more inseparable from China at that time." Liu Hongjie said.

Lou Jinqiang said: "OpenAI's accelerated hardware layout marks that the AI industry has entered a new stage of deep integration of software and hardware. The release of AI capabilities in the future not only depends on cloud computing power, but also requires dedicated hardware carriers. With a complete intelligent hardware industry chain, Chinese enterprises are gradually building independent and controllable technical systems while undertaking global orders. Even in the face of geopolitical pressure, China can still maintain strategic initiative in the Sino-US technological game by deepening technology research and development and industrial chain integration. "

Lou Shenqiang suggested that in the future, China's intelligent manufacturing companies can focus on breaking through core links such as optical devices and AI chips, and explore the possibility of dual-track adaptation of Sino-US technologies to deal with potential supply chain bifurcation risks. "We believe that in the field of intelligent manufacturing, China and the United States have both competition and complementarity. By maintaining technological openness and industrial collaboration, both sides are expected to jointly promote artificial intelligence technology to benefit the world. We are willing to join hands with upstream and downstream partners in the industrial chain to contribute to building a more resilient global science and technology ecosystem." He analyzed this way.

¡°Innovation transformation in Silicon Valley still depends on China¡±

Wang Peng, an associate researcher at Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed in an interview with the Global Times that in the past ten years, the globalization success of hardware products such as smartphones and smart wearable devices of Silicon Valley giants such as Apple is inseparable from the deep participation of China's manufacturing industry. Taking Apple as an example, China not only provides it with efficient and low-cost supply chain support, but also accumulates core capabilities in precision manufacturing, quality management and innovation collaboration through long-term cooperation. From parts production to complete machine assembly, the integrity and flexibility of China's industrial chain have become the key guarantee for Apple's technology iteration and large-scale delivery. OpenAI's move reflects the irreplaceability of "Made in China" in the hardware field. The AI hardware competition in Silicon Valley is essentially a combination of American technological research and development advantages and China's manufacturing capabilities.

Liang Huaixin, a researcher at the National Institute of Security and Governance at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times reporter that the global rise of products from Silicon Valley giants such as Apple is inseparably linked to China. American technology companies have transferred the manufacturing end to China, reducing production costs while improving shipment scale and manufacturing process level, ensuring that companies can provide products with excellent technology to the market. China's production process technology, cost, and production and shipment stability are difficult to replace by other countries and regions. OpenAI wants to follow Apple's example in developing its own software and hardware ecosystem, and it must also be linked to China's industrial chain. Against the background of some Western politicians hyping up the decoupling of Chinese industries, if they want to produce products like China, the cost will be huge and uncontrollable in other production places.

Wangping further said that the cooperation of OpenAI with the "fruit chain" enterprises such as Chongqing Precision, Goal Shares, showed that in the case of high requirements of AI hardware for assembly accuracy, supply chain integration and cost control, Chinese manufacturers with the accumulation of long-term precision manufacturing experience, full chain management capabilities and scale effects, still become the best option for OpenAI to consumer-grade products landing.

Liang Wei believes that the future direction of AI hardware development, may be mainly reflected in the "+AI" and "AI+" two aspects. The so-called "+AI" is in the original electronic products, integrated into AI technology, to the enhancement of the performance of traditional digital hardware products, such as in mobile phones, computers, watches and other digital terminals for AI technology integration. while "AI+" is the need to start from the AI technology itself, according to its technical characteristics to innovate electronic terminal products, comprehensively realize the AI of electronic hardware terminals. he stressed, to fully play the advantages of China in the production process link, improve the proportion of the global consumer electronics industry intermediate chain, to promote the development of the global consumer electronics industry, but can also use its own secondary advantages