OpenAI has reportedly acquired Glass Imaging, a startup developing higher-quality smartphone cameras. According to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, the deal was completed quietly in recent months and valued Glass Imaging at more than $300 million. The company was worth around $100 million after its funding round last year. Glass Imaging was founded by two former Apple employees and uses a mix of hardware and artificial intelligence to improve smartphone photography. The acquisition comes as OpenAI continues to expand beyond ChatGPT. The company has also made several other acquisitions recently and is working with former Apple design chief Jony Ive on a secretive consumer device.
Glass Imaging was founded in 2019 by Ziv Attar and Tom Bishop. Both founders previously worked at Apple, where they were involved in camera technology. Their work included helping develop Apple’s Portrait mode.
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“In a 2022 interview with Computer Vision News, the founders recalled innovation to the camera being ‘incremental’ and the ‘uphill battle’ required to add additional cameras to the smartphone, the report reads.
Glass Imaging focused on combining new camera hardware with software and AI. Its technology is designed to deliver image quality that can compete with DSLR cameras. The company’s zoom-imaging technology has already been used in smartphones from Chinese manufacturer Honor.
OpenAI’s plans for the company have not been revealed. However, the acquisition could be linked to its growing interest in consumer hardware. OpenAI has been working with Jony Ive on a secretive device. Ive joined OpenAI in 2025 as part of the company’s $6.5 billion acquisition of his hardware startup, io Products.
The Glass Imaging deal is also part of a wider acquisition push by OpenAI. The company recently acquired TBPN, an internet talk show, and an open-source developer tools startup.