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AI {hardware} is all the trend in startup land — although receptions have to this point been blended. Two notable examples, Rabbit and Humane, launched gadgets to disappointing outcomes. a16z-backed Limitless and Exor-backed Bee AI, in the meantime, are engaged on their very own screenless AI wearables.
Avi Schiffmann, a Harvard dropout who constructed a Webby Award-winning web site monitoring COVID-19, is engaged on an AI machine known as Buddy. Because the title suggests, the neck-worn machine is designed to be handled as a companion.
Schiffmann has raised $2.5 million in funding at a $50 million valuation from traders like Caffeinated Capital’s Raymond Tonsing, ZFellows founder Cory Levy, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, Solana founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, Morning Brew CEO and co-founder Austin Rief, Jordan Singer, who works on AI efforts at Figma, and Google senior product supervisor Logan Kilpatrick.
The corporate mentioned as we speak it should begin taking pre-orders of its primary white model, which is priced at $99 and anticipated to ship in January 2025.
Product
Quite than specializing in productiveness, the machine is only a skinny layer that connects to your cellphone by way of Bluetooth and always listens to you, in a bid to fight loneliness.
You may faucet on the walkie-talkie button on the {hardware} and speak to the machine. It can ship you an in-app response to it like a textual content, and since Buddy is listening to you on a regular basis, it can also proactively ship a message. As an example, it’d want you good luck earlier than an interview.
And that’s about it.
Picture Credit: Buddy
Schiffmann believes that having a {hardware} round your neck makes it simpler to speak to an AI companion somewhat than simply having an app.
“I’d actually view the product as a like an emotional toy. I feel the one use profitable use case of enormous language fashions is individuals speaking about their day and their emotions to instruments like Replika or Character AI. However with {hardware} current, I consider it’s a higher emotional join,” Schiffmann informed TechCrunch.
AI companion and nothing else
Schiffmann mentioned the machine isn’t designed to be a therapist or provide help to at work. It’s an AI pal you may speak to and nothing extra. He provides that fixed companionship is one among AI’s killer use instances.
Picture Credit: Buddy
Addressing loneliness wasn’t all the time the aim. Final 12 months, Schiffmann got down to create a $600 pendant known as Tag to assist preserve monitor of individuals and transcribe conferences. He took round $100,000 in pre-orders.
Earlier this 12 months, nonetheless, he pivoted. The startup is giving Tag pre-orders the choice to pre-order pal — or just get a refund.
Schiffmann says that he’s leaning into this place and adopting an “all the time listening” tagline. He clarifies, nonetheless, that the corporate is just not storing any of the recordings and you’ll select to delete texts at anytime as effectively.
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