I hate the Rabbit R1. It's yet another sign that standalone AI gadgets, like the Humane AI Pin, are fundamentally useless devices meant to attract hype and VC funding without benefitting users at all. It's like trying to build a skyscraper on quicksand: Today's AI models are great for parlor tricks, but they're ultimately untrustworthy. How do you create a device around that? The Rabbit R1's big selling point has been its "large action model," or LAM, which can supposedly understand what you say and get things done.

At CES this January, startup Rabbit unveiled its first device, just in time for the end of the year of the rabbit according to the lunar calendar. It's a cute little orange square that was positioned as a "pocket companion that moves AI from words to action." In other words, it's basically a dedicated AI machine that acts kind of like a walkie talkie to a virtual assistant. You're probably thinking of the Humane AI Pin, which was announced last year and started shipping this month. I awarded it a score of 50 (out of 100) earlier this month, while outlets like Wired and The Verge gave it similarly low marks of 4 out of 10.

The pathway leading into Rabbit's venue--for the launch event of the R1, an artificial intelligence-powered device announced at CES 2024--was paved with gadgets from the past. First was the orange JVC Videosphere, then the Sony Walkman, a Tamagotchi, a transparent GameBoy Color, heck, even the original Pokédex toy from 1998. At the very end of the hall was Teenage Engineering's Pocket Operator, and across from it, a few concept prototypes of the Rabbit R1. If the Pocket Operator stands out, seeing as it's barely a decade old, that's because the Swedish design-firm Teenage Engineering helped design the R1. And at the launch event, CEO Jesse Lyu announced on stage that Jesper Kouthoofd, founder of Teenage Engineering, has joined Rabbit as its chief design officer (while still maintaining his role as CEO of TE).

Yes, you probably already have a virtual assistant in your pocket on your phone. Heck, if you're reading Engadget, I'm willing to bet you've got at least one smart speaker floating around your home as well that you can ask to complete basic tasks. But a new start up called Rabbit seems to think these are less than ideal implementations of AI (if you can really call Siri and Alexa that). It envisions a world where you trade apps for conversation and, rather than a distracting device shoving icons in your face, you interact with what amounts to a walkie-talkie for an AI. The R1 is the first device to be launched by Rabbit and it's an objectively adorable little square in an endearingly bright shade of orange.

AI-generated art is a new frontier rife with potential. For example, look no further than this AI-powered experiment that creates kaleidoscopic visual landscapes for composed music. A collaboration between quirky synth and hardware brand Teenage Engineering and design studios Modem and Bureau Cool, the project draws inspiration from the neurological condition synesthesia. This rare phenomenon leads the brain to perceive sensory input for several senses instead of one. For example, a listener with synesthesia may see music instead of only hearing it, observing color, movement and shape in response to musical patterns.

Most people still don't know who or what Teenage Engineering is. But, those that do probably think of them as a music company -- the iconic OP-1 synthesizer, OD-11 speaker and line of tiny Pocket Operator synths have earned Teenage Engineering that reputation. But more than that, the company is made of of people who love getting weird with hardware design; pushing the boundaries of what can be created is in Teenage Engineering's DNA. The two new products Teenage Engineering just unveiled at the Baidu World conference in Beijing, China most definitely fit with that ethos. Simply referred to by the single letters "H" and "R," the easiest way to identify devices is to call them smart speakers.