- A new leak says OpenAI is creating a wearable device to compete with Apple’s AirPods
- The device is codenamed ‘Sweetpea’ and works as a headset for ChatGPT.
- It’s supposed to sit behind your ear, not inside.
OpenAI may be best known for its ChatGPT chatbot, but we also know that the artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer has teamed up with former Apple design guru Jony Ive to develop a suite of wearable products (reportedly including an AI-powered stylus), all powered by its AI algorithms. Now, a new revelation has shed light on exactly what OpenAI could be up to in its secret labs.
This is because a new leak on X has revealed a mysterious new OpenAI device codenamed ‘Sweetpea’. It is supposedly a behind-the-ear wearable device that runs on artificial intelligence and aims directly to compete with Apple’s popular AirPods headphones.
However, don’t expect them to look like your standard in-ear headphones. Instead, the leaker, who calls himself Smart Pikachu, claims that much of each Sweetpea module will be worn behind the ear. That might make them look more like a pair of headphones than a traditional pair of headphones.
The behind-the-ear segment could include the product’s battery and processor, with the advantage that placing them this way could allow the use of a larger battery. Considering the AI device will always be on and ready to help you, more time on a single charge could be a real selling point.
Aside from that, Smart Pikachu says Sweetpea will feature a custom chip to “replace the iPhone’s actions by commanding Siri.” The timing is fortuitous, as Apple just brought in Google Gemini to help power Siri’s upcoming AI overhaul, meaning this could be another way for Apple’s virtual assistant to get new features in the future.
And as Wareable suggested, the Sweetpea image that included Smart Pikachu contained references to an ‘ultrasonic transmitter’ and signal-picking sensors. This, Wareable notes, means that the device “could offer environmental sensing or contextual awareness, rather than simply acting as a passive Bluetooth receiver for ChatGPT.”
When can we see Sweetpea? Smart Pikachu estimates the release date to be “around September” 2026, with between 40 and 50 million units expected to ship. This is an ambitious goal for OpenAI’s first wearable device, but given the success of ChatGPT, it could be possible.
But be careful, as the leaker claims the price could be high. This is because the price of Sweetpea’s materials and components is close to the cost of a smartphone, with the added factor that its “device function [are] “It is said to be stronger.”
Still, Sweetpea aligns with a trend we noticed at CES 2026, where a growing number of companies were pushing AI-enabled wearables as the next big thing. Perhaps OpenAI’s Sweetpea project is finally the device to make a breakthrough and bring these products to the mainstream.
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