Without billions in funding, its impossible to build a viable alternative to the android/ios duopoly. Heck, its near impossible even with the billion (RIP windows phone) but that where OpenAI software side comes in.
People have to stop buying into these fabricated tech hypes.
That's an argument against all technological progress. You had a crowd 20 years ago asking why you'd want a smart phone - a phone should just be great at making phone calls. Sometimes integrating new tech will be a huge leap, and sometimes a flop, but its hard to predict so you have to try it to find out. There is a reasonable chance an always available AI assistant in a portable device will be a big deal.
There is no reason to believe OpenAI will magically change the phone industry by making "OpenAI phones" whatever that is supposed to mean.
AI assistants in phones were a flop, and though their quality could change much with the use of language models this doesn't mean that people are going to use them this time. Currently it's not even possible to use language models in that sense, they are useful for generating text but it's near impossible to have them communicate to some external interface.
I've once talked to someone who gave a talk on an absolutely enormous call support framework for a bank, and he told me that they had no plans to ever integrate actual AI with their chatbot. Because those models can't be controlled/consored strictly enough.
What I am saying is that the actual technological advancement of language models has completely disassociated with the buzzword "AI" that is being thrown around a lot right now. And it's not dissimilar to how Meta or Web3 were discussed.
They got billions on their balance sheet and the are rumours of a new phone company with Jony Ive.
The bankroll along with the dynamism both parties bring to the table might just cross the threshold for becoming a viable contender against the Apple/Google duopoly.
Lets not forget the AI advantage, Apple has a lot of catching up to do and this opens a small window of opportunity.