The AI Tamagotchis are coming
While AI has made plenty of inroads on people's phones and computers, it's largely failed in dedicated devices.
Sam Altman onstage at OpenAI’s DevDay 2026. | Image: Hayden Field / The Verge
While AI has made plenty of inroads on people's phones and computers, it's largely failed in dedicated devices. But over the next year, two major AI companies, Meta and OpenAI, will attempt to change that. And they're apparently betting on a similar path: testing appetite for physical hardware with their cutesy software agents.
"Hardware is hard" is a tech industry mantra. Dedicated AI devices like the Friend and Humane AI Pin have inspired mainly frustration and backlash, which may only worsen as public anger against AI grows. Meta and OpenAI, however, are both pushing ahead. OpenAI is working with famed ex-Apple designer Jony Ive and pla …
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