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. Opal Camera, which has received a $40 million Series B funding round from OpenAI, is rebranding to Opal Electronics and expanding its product portfolio beyond webcams to a broad range of consumer devices, some of which will be AI-focused.

The transition was possible thanks to the investment. Other investors in Opal include Samsung, Peter Thiel, Seven Seven Six (Alexis Ohanian's venture capital firm), and noted tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee. Since then, Opal has been working on an AI-powered audio product for the last few years. This is the product that convinced OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to invest in Opal.

The exact nature of the AI-powered audio gadget remains unclear. It's currently being tested by Altman, researchers at OpenAI, and executives from xAI, Thinking Machines, and Anthropic. Opal's audio product will launch in partnership with a specific AI lab, but it is not designed to compete with the iPhone.

Since its founding, Opal has grown steadily, selling over 50,000 webcams by 2023. It manufactures its products in Taiwan and plans to release two other products in the next 12 months. The company notes on its website that it will remain a small company; when its products reach the end of their lives, Opal says it will release 3D drawings, manufacturing plans, circuit board schematics, and software to the public domain so people can figure out ways to keep using the products.