OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has put a spotlight on private conversations leading up to a rival company suing OpenAI over its upcoming device, io. The emails show a mostly friendly exchange where Rugolo asks Altman for his support as Altman discloses a competing device. “I’d love the opportunity to pitch you to invest $10MM in my AI-meets-audio hardware company, iyO,” Rugolo wrote in a March 4th message. On May 23rd, days after OpenAI announced its purchase of io — a name similar to Rugolo’s startup — Rugolo sent Altman another email. “When an investor you pitched everything to, especially such a powerful one, tells you they are now doing something competitive... it’s just a terrible feeling,” Rugolo wrote.