Perplexity Promises Sub-$50 AI Voice Device After Social Media Challenge
Perplexity's CEO vows to build a cheap, voice-interactive AI gadget after a viral X post surpasses 5,000 likes. The move follows a broader trend of AI startups venturing into the risky hardware market.
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas announces that his company plans to develop a simple, under-$50 hardware device designed to answer questions through voice-to-voice interaction. This commitment comes after a social media challenge on X, where Srinivas promises to build the gadget if his post receives more than 5,000 likes, a milestone the post quickly reaches.
The search startup joins a growing trend of AI companies exploring physical products, with Midjourney forming a hardware team and OpenAI collaborating with former Apple design chief Jony Ive. These companies pursue hardware to unlock new types of user interactions and capitalize on the prestige of creating innovative, tangible tech devices in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
However, the hardware market proves exceptionally challenging for AI startups, as demonstrated by the struggles of Rabbit's R1 and the spectacular failure of Humane's Ai Pin. Although Perplexity boasts a large cash reserve and an upcoming funding round, it faces significant hurdles to avoid the disappointing sales, unfulfilled feature promises, and safety issues that plague previous AI hardware ventures.