I’m looking out at Alcatraz Island from a Mediterranean restaurant in San Francisco with hundred-dollar fish entrees on the menu. As I make small talk with other reporters, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman jumps through the door on my left. Altman’s looking down at his bare iPhone to show us all something, and an intrusive thought slips out of my mouth: “No phone case is a bold choice.”

Of course, I immediately realize that the billionaire CEO of OpenAI, who employs Apple veteran Jony Ive, cares more about preserving the iPhone’s original design than the $1,000 it costs to replace one.

“Listen, we’re going to ship a device that is going to be so beautiful,” said Altman, referring to OpenAI and Ive’s forthcoming AI device . “If you put a case over it, I will personally hunt you down,” he joked.

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