At a recent OpenAI annual Q&A session, a small gesture by CEO Sam Altman drew attention from the tech community: he publicly displayed his main phone—a sleek Apple iPhone Air equipped with a MagSafe magnetic wallet.

From "cool" to "hands-on"

Altman's preference for this phone had been evident before:

Public praise: As early as September 2025, he posted on the X platform expressing that the new iPhone looked "very cool," which sparked his long-awaited desire to upgrade.

Model confirmation: In subsequent interactions with netizens, he clearly confirmed that the model he was interested in was the iPhone Air.

The lightest and thinnest: the lightest in Apple's history

This phone, which caught the attention of an AI giant, is one of Apple's major releases in the fall of 2025:

Thickness breakthrough: The body is only 5.6 mm thick, setting a new record for thinness in Apple phones.

Lightweight feel: The entire device weighs just 165 grams.

Powerful heart: Despite its slim design, it still houses a powerful A19 chip inside.

New hardware perspective in the AI era

As the leader of OpenAI, Altman's choices are often seen as a trend indicator. In today's era of increasingly popular AI assistants, a mobile terminal that is extremely thin, easy to carry, and high-performing may align with his vision for future smart interaction interfaces.

Interestingly, Altman has also been actively expanding into the hardware field:

Annual revenue growth: Altman recently announced that OpenAI's API business added $1 billion in annual recurring revenue last month.

Hardware ambitions: OpenAI plans to launch its first self-developed hardware device in the second half of 2026.

Human-machine integration: He also invested in the brain-computer interface company Merge Labs, envisioning tackling the challenges of super AI through human-machine integration.

From Altman's iPhone Air to OpenAI's rumored AI hardware, the future of mobile life is becoming increasingly "lighter" and more intelligent.