📱 OpenAI Confirms Physical Device at Davos

Plus Microsoft warns of AI bubble while jobs vanish

January 21, 2026

Reading time: 5 minutes

🗞️In this edition

  • OpenAI Confirms First Physical Device Coming Late 2026

  • Nadella Warns AI Could Become a Bubble Without Wider Adoption

  • Davos Says 92 Million Jobs Will Disappear by 2030

  • In other AI news –

    • Musk Plans to Put AI Data Centers in Space

    • Ray Dalio AI Bubble Warning

    • ServiceNow Signs Multi-Year Deal With OpenAI

  • 4 must-try AI tools

Davos is where the biggest players say what they really think.

OpenAI announced a device nobody has seen. Microsoft's CEO warned AI might be a bubble. And the World Economic Forum admitted 92 million jobs will disappear before new ones arrive.

Each announcement reveals something about confidence versus reality. About building products without showing them. About warning investors while still taking their money. About job loss that happens faster than job creation.

The message from Davos isn't optimistic. It's honest in ways quarterly earnings calls never are.

This edition looks at what leaders admit when they're not selling you something.

What's happening:

OpenAI's chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane confirmed at Davos on Monday that the company will unveil its first physical device in the second half of 2026. He didn't share what the device is or when it goes on sale.

The device is being built with Jony Ive, Apple's former design chief. OpenAI acquired Ive's startup io for $6.5 billion in May 2025. Dozens of Ive's engineers joined OpenAI as part of the deal.

Leaks suggest the device could be earbuds called "Sweetpea" that sit behind your ears, not inside them. Another rumor points to a pen-shaped device called "Gumdrop." Both are screenless and voice-first.

Altman previously described the device as "shockingly simple" and more "peaceful" than a smartphone. Ive wants to reduce device addiction and sees audio-first design as a way to fix what smartphones broke.

Why this is important:

OpenAI is betting hardware matters more than better models. Lehane said future AI advances need new interfaces. Better software alone won't be enough.

The screenless approach puts OpenAI directly against Apple. Meta's Ray-Ban glasses already ship 10 million units annually. Qualcomm expects 100 million AI glasses within two years. OpenAI needs differentiation fast.

The category is littered with failures. Humane's AI Pin burned hundreds of millions before collapsing. The Friend AI pendant raised privacy concerns. OpenAI has more resources, but that doesn't guarantee success.

Jony Ive's involvement matters for credibility. His Apple legacy makes this feel like a serious product, not a prototype. But he also needs OpenAI more than Apple ever needed him.

Comments from the editor:

Announcing hardware without showing it is classic vaporware strategy. Keep competitors guessing while you figure out what you're actually building.

The "second half of 2026" window is deliberately vague. That could mean September or December. Lehane even hedged with "we'll see how things advance." That's not confidence.

Screenless devices solve a problem most people don't have. Smartphones work. Audio-only limits what you can do. Unless OpenAI makes this dramatically better than voice assistants, it's just expensive Siri.

The $6.5 billion Ive acquisition only makes sense if hardware becomes a major revenue stream. That's a huge bet on a form factor nobody's proven works yet.

What's happening:

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned at Davos on Tuesday that AI risks becoming a speculative bubble unless its use spreads beyond big tech companies and wealthy economies.

Nadella said the long-term success of AI depends on it being used by industries beyond tech and adopted outside developed countries. "For this not to be a bubble by definition, it requires that the benefits are much more evenly spread," he said.

A telltale sign of a bubble would be if only tech groups benefit from AI, rather than companies in other sectors. Nadella emphasized that AI must prove useful in real-world applications across industries.

He called 2026 a turning point where AI shifts from hype to real impact. The focus must move from building powerful models to creating complete systems with software, workflows, and safeguards.

Nadella admitted we're in a "model overhang" phase where AI capabilities outpace our ability to use them effectively. The technology advances faster than practical applications.

Why this is important:

The CEO of Microsoft is calling AI a potential bubble. That's not a skeptic talking. That's the person running the biggest AI investor in the world.

Nadella's warning comes as companies spend $2.5 trillion in 2026 despite Gartner calling it a "trough of disillusionment." He's saying that spending doesn't guarantee success.

The uneven distribution he describes is already happening. Rich companies and wealthy countries get AI benefits. Everyone else gets displaced workers and no infrastructure to compete.

Calling 2026 the year AI becomes useful sounds good. But it also admits 2024 and 2025 weren't useful. That's billions spent on experimentation while calling it transformation.

What's happening:

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report says 92 million jobs will disappear by 2030 because of AI and automation. But the same report predicts 170 million new jobs will be created, mostly in digital and green industries.

That's a net gain of 78 million jobs. But the people losing jobs aren't the same people getting the new ones.

Davos 2026 is focusing on reskilling workers before 40% of current skills become obsolete within five years. Leaders launched initiatives to reach 1 billion people globally with access to education and skills training.

Youth unemployment is the biggest concern. A Youth Pulse survey shows 57% of young people rank employment as their top worry. Entry-level jobs are disappearing faster than new ones are being created.

Why this is important:

The jobs aren't disappearing gradually. One in four jobs will change by 2030. That's massive displacement happening in the next four years.

The skills gap is structural, not temporary. Companies need workers with different abilities than schools teach. Unemployed people and unfilled positions exist at the same time.

Young workers get hit hardest. They're entering a job market where AI already does the entry-level work they used to start with. No entry jobs means no way to build experience.

The "net positive" number hides the pain. Sure, 78 million more jobs exist. But if you're one of the 92 million losing work, retraining for green energy or AI doesn't happen overnight.

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The gap between what's promised and what's delivered keeps growing.

Hardware that doesn't exist yet. AI that might be a bubble. Jobs disappearing while training programs scramble to catch up.

These aren't peripheral concerns. They're central to whether AI becomes useful or just expensive. Whether companies build real products or vaporware. Whether workers displaced today find opportunities tomorrow.

What matters now is whether honesty at Davos leads to different decisions back home. Or whether everyone returns to their companies and continues spending billions anyway.

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