OpenAI scrubs ‘io’, Disney + OpenAI & more (June 24, 2025)

Good morning,

Jony Ive and Sam Altman’s sleek new AI gadget just hit a legal wall, ElevenLabs is coming for Siri’s lunch, and a helmet could treat your anxiety with sound. Let’s get into it 👇

⚖️ Lawsuits, Lawsuits, Everywhere

🧠 OpenAI’s “io” scrubs itself from the internet

OpenAI pulled all mentions of its $6.5B “io” device after Google X spinout iyO filed a trademark suit. The kicker? iyO says Altman and Ive met with them years ago, borrowed ideas, and launched a suspiciously similar device. OpenAI calls the claims “baseless,” but for now, all promo is gone.

🔍 Reddit may use World ID to spot real humans

Reddit is considering integrating Altman’s iris-scanning World ID system to keep bots at bay while letting users stay anonymous. The verification process encrypts biometric data, but minors are excluded for now. If it happens, Reddit would be the first major US platform to go full Orb.

🎓 Laude Institute funds academics to go pro

A new nonprofit backed by Databricks’ Andy Konwinski is committing $100M to help AI researchers turn their work into real products. With Jeff Dean and David Patterson onboard, it’s aiming to be Y Combinator for the ivory tower.

🧠 Interfaces, Assistants & Helmets

🗣 ElevenLabs drops free AI assistant

11ai is here, a voice assistant from ElevenLabs that hooks into Perplexity, Slack, Notion, and more. You can run tasks with your voice, clone voices, and even connect custom tools via Anthropic’s MCP protocol. It’s free for now and refreshingly useful.

🧘‍♀️ This AI brain helmet gives your mind a massage

Sanmai Technologies is building a $500 helmet that uses ultrasound to reduce anxiety, depression, and pain. It’s non-invasive, backed by LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman, and comes with an AI companion to guide your treatment. Think Neuralink, without the brain surgery.

🎬 Disney may license its IP to OpenAI, while suing Midjourney

Disney is reportedly in talks with OpenAI to license characters and stories for use in AI tools. But at the same time, it's suing Midjourney, likely the first of many legal battles as media giants push back against AI models training on copyrighted content.

🛠️ Tools of the Day

• Bookster – Turn your knowledge into ebooks instantly
• Docyt – AI-powered bookkeeping
• Async – Clean, high-quality text-to-speech
• Klero – AI assistant for growth and decision-making

🎯 Prompt of the Day

Prompt:
Act as Resource Maximizer, an AI consultant that helps users identify and monetize underutilized assets across physical space, skills, time, and more.

⚡ Quick Hits

• Meta tried to acquire Runway ML, SSI, Thinking Machines, and Perplexity
• Microsoft launches Mu, a small agentic language model for Copilot+ PCs
• Harvey raises $300M to bring AI to legal workflows
• Google’s Magenta RealTime lets users create music on consumer hardware

🧾 TLDR

OpenAI and Jony Ive’s ‘io’ device is facing a legal reckoning over alleged idea theft, while ElevenLabs’ new free assistant shows up Siri. Disney's leaning into AI licensing, and suing others out of it. Plus, a startup wants to ultrasound your brain into calmness.

Until next time,
David