Flush With Cash From OpenAI, Opal Is Making an AI-Powered Audio Gadget
Flush With Cash From OpenAI, Opal Is Making an AI-Powered Audio Gadget
获得 OpenAI 资金加持，Opal 正在打造一款 AI 音频设备
A small San Francisco startup known for making well-appointed, beautifully designed webcams is now vying to become the AI hardware company of the moment. 一家以制造精致、设计美观的网络摄像头而闻名的旧金山小型初创公司，如今正力争成为当下最受瞩目的 AI 硬件公司。
Opal Camera is rebranding to Opal Electronics and will expand its product portfolio beyond webcams to a broad range of consumer devices, some of which will be AI-focused. It aims to emulate Sony Electronics as a wide-ranging consumer gadget brand by focusing on design and culture, not just tech. Opal Camera 正更名为 Opal Electronics，并将产品组合从网络摄像头扩展到更广泛的消费电子设备，其中一些将专注于 AI。该公司旨在效仿索尼电子（Sony Electronics），通过专注于设计和文化而非仅仅是技术，成为一家多元化的消费电子品牌。
The transition was possible thanks to a $40 million Series B funding round from OpenAI. Some details about the investment were first reported in 2024, but the deal was closed in the first quarter of 2025. Other investors in Opal include Samsung, Peter Thiel, Seven Seven Six (Alexis Ohanian’s venture capital firm), and noted tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee (known as MKBHD), among others, according to a source close to the deal. Opal is now valued at around $275 million. 这一转型得益于 OpenAI 提供的 4000 万美元 B 轮融资。有关该投资的一些细节最早于 2024 年被报道，但交易是在 2025 年第一季度完成的。据接近交易的消息人士透露，Opal 的其他投资者还包括三星、彼得·蒂尔（Peter Thiel）、Seven Seven Six（亚历克西斯·瓦尼安的风险投资公司）以及知名科技 YouTuber Marques Brownlee（即 MKBHD）等。Opal 目前的估值约为 2.75 亿美元。
Opal Electronics declined to comment. OpenAI did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. Opal Electronics 拒绝置评。OpenAI 未回应《连线》（WIRED）的置评请求。
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was an early customer and fan of Opal’s original C1 webcam, so much so that his team visited Opal’s offices in 2022 to ask whether OpenAI’s Whisper voice transcription model could run locally on Opal cameras for live subtitles on Zoom. The source, who asked to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, says it was at the end of this meeting that OpenAI showed the Opal team a preview of ChatGPT. It made such an impact on the attendees that the company decided to turn into a research lab. OpenAI 首席执行官山姆·奥特曼（Sam Altman）是 Opal 最初款 C1 网络摄像头的早期用户和粉丝，以至于他的团队在 2022 年访问了 Opal 的办公室，询问 OpenAI 的 Whisper 语音转录模型是否可以在 Opal 摄像头上本地运行，从而为 Zoom 提供实时字幕。该消息人士因未获授权公开谈论此事而要求匿名，他表示正是在这次会议结束时，OpenAI 向 Opal 团队展示了 ChatGPT 的预览版。这对与会者产生了巨大的影响，以至于该公司决定转型为一家研究实验室。
Since then, Opal has been working on an AI-powered audio product for the last few years. This, in turn, is the product that convinced Altman to invest in Opal. It will launch in the next three to four months and is currently being tested by Altman, researchers at OpenAI, and by executives at xAI, Thinking Machines, and Anthropic. It’s unclear whether it’s a wearable, though the source says it’s a familiar product category, and that it’s not designed to compete with the iPhone. 从那时起，Opal 在过去几年里一直致力于开发一款 AI 音频产品。这正是说服奥特曼投资 Opal 的产品。它将在未来三到四个月内发布，目前正由奥特曼、OpenAI 的研究人员以及 xAI、Thinking Machines 和 Anthropic 的高管进行测试。目前尚不清楚它是否是一款可穿戴设备，但消息人士称它属于一个人们熟悉的品类，且其设计初衷并非为了与 iPhone 竞争。
OpenAI famously teamed up with ex-iPhone designer Jony Ive and his firm, LoveFrom, to explore personal hardware devices that would run ChatGPT and OpenAI’s other software. It’s not clear yet what the exact hardware strategy is for OpenAI, but its first product is rumored to be something akin to a smart speaker, with an expected launch date of early 2027. 众所周知，OpenAI 曾与前 iPhone 设计师乔尼·艾维（Jony Ive）及其公司 LoveFrom 合作，探索运行 ChatGPT 和 OpenAI 其他软件的个人硬件设备。目前尚不清楚 OpenAI 的具体硬件战略，但有传言称其首款产品类似于智能音箱，预计发布日期为 2027 年初。
Opal’s audio product will launch in partnership with a specific AI lab—the source was unable to specify which—but Opal is in talks with OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, allowing users to switch models to their preference. Opal Electronics plans to release two other products in the next 12 months. Opal 的音频产品将与某家特定的 AI 实验室合作推出（消息人士无法具体说明是哪一家），但 Opal 正在与 OpenAI、Anthropic 和 xAI 进行洽谈，允许用户根据偏好切换模型。Opal Electronics 计划在未来 12 个月内再发布两款产品。
On its new website, a looped video plays, shot from below a glass table, showcasing several products Opal has been designing. “Most of what is on our happy table, you have not yet seen,” the website reads. Opal notes on its website that it plans to remain a small company. “When a line grows old, we will sell the last of it, and then let it rest.” That applies to its webcams, which the company says will soon “leave the shelf,” though Opal promises service and support for “many years.” 在其新网站上，一段从玻璃桌下方拍摄的循环视频展示了 Opal 一直在设计的几款产品。网站上写道：“我们这张快乐桌子上的大多数东西，你还没见过。”Opal 在网站上指出，它计划保持一家小公司的规模。“当一个产品系列变老时，我们将售出最后一批，然后让它退役。”这适用于其网络摄像头，公司称它们很快将“下架”，尽管 Opal 承诺会提供“多年”的服务和支持。
OpenAI is now the largest shareholder in Opal, but according to the source, it does not have rights to Opal’s intellectual property or designs. Opal can work with any AI lab it wants and is already in conversations with third parties for the launch of its next product. OpenAI 现在是 Opal 的最大股东，但据消息人士称，它并不拥有 Opal 的知识产权或设计权。Opal 可以与任何它想要的 AI 实验室合作，并且已经在与第三方洽谈其下一款产品的发布事宜。
Opal wasn’t struggling when it decided to pivot. According to the source, the company had sold over 50,000 webcams by 2023. It had a team of five people when it launched its first webcam, which grew to 12 people by the time it launched its second product. The company manufactures its products in Taiwan. Opal 在决定转型时并未陷入困境。据消息人士称，到 2023 年，该公司已售出超过 5 万台网络摄像头。在推出第一款摄像头时，团队只有 5 人，到推出第二款产品时，团队已增长至 12 人。该公司在台湾制造其产品。
At the onset of the generative AI boom, several companies raced to be the first to sell fresh hardware imbued with large language models—with some promising to be so useful that they would end our dependence on smartphones. Nearly all of those hardware products have failed, from the Humane Ai Pin to the Rabbit R1. With a note on its website promising to “promise little and deliver beyond that,” Opal Electronics seems to be taking a more measured approach. 在生成式 AI 热潮之初，几家公司竞相成为首批销售搭载大语言模型的新型硬件厂商，其中一些公司甚至承诺其产品非常实用，以至于将终结我们对智能手机的依赖。从 Humane Ai Pin 到 Rabbit R1，几乎所有这些硬件产品都失败了。Opal Electronics 在其网站上承诺“少许诺，多交付”，似乎正在采取一种更为审慎的策略。