Perplexity AI promises hardware – for under 50 US dollars
All AI providers are working on their own hardware. Now the Perplexity CEO is promising a low-cost device with voice control.
Perhaps an open-end wrench is required to manufacture the new hardware. But maybe not.
(Image: Miriam Doerr, Martin Frommherz/Shutterstock.com)
Aravind Srinivas, CEO of the AI search engine Perplexity AI, has written to X that he is considering developing a device that costs less than 50 US dollars and provides reliable answers. Srinivas describes Perplexity not as a search engine, but as an answer engine. The new device is apparently intended to be an audio-only device – that can be asked questions using spoken language and responds with speech.
"If this post gets more than 5,000 likes, I'll definitely do it," ends the post on X. Of course, more than 5000 people have distributed hearts for it – and Srinivas writes "Alright. LFG!" It is completely unclear when the device will be released or presented, how far the developments are or whether the device will be able to do more than just speak.
The country needs new hardware
All major AI providers are currently announcing their intention to enter the hardware market. The main focus is on consumer products. OpenAI, for example, is known to be working with Jony Ive on a device that is "designed to be less disruptive than the iPhone". Ive is the former chief designer at Apple.
Videos by heise
With its Ray-Ban glasses, Meta already has a device on offer that can be used with Meta AI voice control, i.e. the company's AI. Google is also known to be working on another pair of smart glasses. The original Google Glasses were discontinued years ago due to a lack of interest and data protection concerns. However, AI is now bringing new potential to the market. Mark Zuckerberg talks about the most important new device category – glasses. However, his Orion AR glasses are still a prototype.
Midjourney, provider of the image generator of the same name, has also set up a team to develop hardware. It is known, for example, that one of the senior employees previously worked at Neuralink and was also involved in the development of the Apple Vision Pro.
Perplexity and the Telekom AI smartphone
However, there are already two companies that have almost failed with the launch of their innovative hardware. Human AI Pin and Rabbits R1. In both cases, the reviews were poor, promised functions were missing or worked poorly and there were also problems with security.
However, Perplexity AI is already working with Deutsche Telekom. Telekom in turn announced a long time ago that they are working on an AI smartphone. In an interview with heise online, Jonathan Abrahamson from Telekom said that the reactions to the concept presented were "stratospheric". The conclusion was that there was a massive demand for a new way of interacting with technology. Nobody wants to have 200 apps on their smartphone in the future, he believes this business model is outdated.
(emw)
