Is this the random tech thing that wants me to give it all my passwords, or is that the one marketed by the most uncharismatic people ever (the pin thing).
It’s a shame to see Fadell suckered by this.
5 Likes
Oh no, I just noticed in that screenshot it’s “helping” someone wire a thermostat.
Given AI’s tendency to hallucinate, that’s a great way to get an electric shock!
2 Likes
So I’m supposed to carry this thing around so that it can do a half arsed job compared to my phone?
Fair play to you Simon, you need to go where the VC money is and they’ll pay huge salaries, crash and burn or “pivot” and then get some more money from someone else.
6 Likes
Agree completely.
Buuuut. If this company really has cracked the problem of AI performing actions and navigating traditional web/app interfaces, there might be some value in that alone.
Again though, what’s it doing here, that couldn’t just be achieved with an iPhone app?
That’s the existential issue of AI hardware. Particularly if it’s just another device with a screen and a camera that you hold. It belongs in a smartphone.
2 Likes
And it isn’t even a convenient shape to put in a pocket either.
3 Likes
I also wonder, is Fadell calling the hardware super cool, or the AI powered software, which I presume is assisting with install of a Nest thermostat?
It’s not clear from his comments, but I’d bet it’s the AI. And the can’t wait attributed to the fact that sort of AI experience right now only exists on that piece of hardware. Smart phones can’t do it yet. But they will.
Who knows, maybe a decade from now we’ll all have egg on our faces and look like the sort of folks who dismissed the iPhone. Wouldn’t that be something.
1 Like
He also enjoys tech, hardware etc. Just because he “can’t wait” to get one, doesn’t mean anything.
I’m sure he orders all sorts of shite. He’s a multi millionaire, he can buy all of them and not care about the costs.
3 Likes
It probably does belong in a smartphone and not a separate device but it might be needed to differentiate in all the ai hype at the moment, it creates a talking point and spreads awareness for the gen 1 product when someone pulls it out uses it, if it was on a phone they’d assume it was just siri or Google assistant.
The flipper zero (potentially) can be replicated with a smartphone and some Bluetooth or type c antenna but I don’t think it would have gone as viral.
1 Like
Y’all are a tough crowd 
I’ll just say that pretty much any startup would kill for 80k pre-orders in a month and stamps of approval from the likes of Satya Nadella and Tony Fadell!
But all good. I’m thick-skinned. And I get it. It’s a totally unproven product in a brand new market.
The reason I got in touch with the team initially to offer my help is probably worth more than anything else, since I do now work here. So I’ll talk about that a little.
First - been a long time since I was truly excited about hardware. And the AI hardware market is worth being excited about, IMO! Between us, Humane, Tab, Rewind and whatever OpenAI are cooking up with Jony Ive, it feels like a really exciting time.
Second, the teach mode I think will be the real secret sauce. With this, you’ll be able to teach the rabbit to do all kinds of tasks - from the obvious to the extremely niche and specific. Our community will come up with all kinds of weird and wonderful things and then be able to share those actions with other users.
Finally, this company is executing incredibly fast and with some major talents in design, machine learning, engineering, and everywhere else. I just got out of my first weekly community/marketing meeting a few hours ago, and was blown away with everything I learned about. So if we don’t yet have something that impressed you, then maybe we will in a few months. Everything is evolving very quickly!
8 Likes
Let me add something else to give some context.
The LAM (Large Action Model) is really the thing. This is pioneering software sitting at the very frontier of AI, machine learning and neuro-symbolic programming.
I’d highly recommend reading our research page to understand how momentous this is:
And when you’ve built pioneering new software like this, which you’re very proud of, you want to build hardware that shows it off in the best way. A way that aligns with your vision, and doesn’t compromise it. A way that brings attention to what you’ve done.
So the “it could be an app” conversation feels a little to me like suggesting Apple could put iOS on other OEM hardware. Sure, they technically could, but it’s not their model. Why isn’t it? Because they have a vision for how their software should be presented, and aligning it with their own hardware was the model that made sense for them.
That’s how we feel about it. So the R1, and any subsequent hardware we make, is how to turn software we are very proud of into products that people can buy in a way that aligns with our vision.
But were I to guess, raising $30m across a seed round and then a Series A just two months later (another impressive stat for anyone familiar with startup funding) is likely mostly down to what is going on with the LAM.
3 Likes
I definitely get it, I like the idea of the LAM.
I think as a consumer device, this looks a little high concept and in all honesty I can’t see millions of people running out to buy one, but I think there is a lot of potential in the OS and you’ll have a small but dedicated user base for the product.
Might be one that is suitable for a big tech company to acquire relatively early.
2 Likes
I expect Apple will integrate a processor into their next generation of handsets that is purpose built for AI. It could run any OS they like (as long as it can communicate with iOS). Apps will then be able to take advantage of that. I’d be very surprised if they aren’t working on this now.
I don’t think a separate piece of hardware will ever get any traction beyond the people who are raving about it now. It’s probably a cool bit of kit but I doubt it will be the next big thing.
2 Likes
Traction is relative, that’s the thing.
The company expected that we would have maybe 5-10k pre-orders after CES at most.
We’re on track to hit 100,000 just six weeks later.
So the R1 is by all objective measures a massive hit even if it plateaud after that!
I think there’s a solid chance we hit 200k by the middle of the year, which in total revenue would already exceed our our total funding amount to date and set us up for a pretty amazing Series B.
And we haven’t even run a big ad campaign yet!
3 Likes
Why didn’t they then? 
Agreed. It’s probably unfair of me to compare what Apple or other tech giants are doing with a startup. And a bit hypocritical given I’m here on this forum because of a company that disrupted things for the better 
I guess my point was more on the lines of some ideas can only go so far and then there’s a big jump from enthusiast to general consumer - if that’s even what is intended.
Those are good numbers. I hope it goes well and doesn’t plateau for a while yet!
3 Likes
I’d think that was an absolute minimum expectation to be honest
1 Like
Yes, there’s a solid chance we go above and beyond that. But let’s see what happens!
If anyone has a subscription to The Information, Vinod Khosla wrote a great article just now talking about Rabbit and AI hardware devices in general.
I sort of understand this, and can see how it might speed certain things up. The example in the video uses AirBnb. Getting to the point where you’re browsing properties would be slightly faster, but then when you actually want to look at the photos and compare, you’ll still want to do this in the app. And that might as well be a high quality screen, like your phone. Once phones start to incorporate LAMs in their OS, I just can’t see the benefit of a separate device - or is there something special about this model that companies like Apple and Google can’t incorporate? Maybe the end goal is for Rabbit to be acquired.
Maybe as a millennial, I’m now too old to understand this kind of thing haha
2 Likes