The rush to create the ‘iPhone of AI’ has begun

Many technologists think they have found the future of human-computer interaction. But it’s not yet clear that we need or want it, writes Andrew Griffin

Jony Ive, Apple’s most famous designer, is rumoured to be working on a new AI-focused device. Meanwhile Tim Cook and Apple are adding new AI features to the actual iPhone (Getty Images)

The Consumer Electronics Show is supposed to be a glimpse at the future. So, of course, this year’s event – held this month in Las Vegas – was saturated with artificial intelligence, or things claiming to be it. AI was put into every day household items and furnishings: there was AI mirrors, AI mattresses and AI washing machines. There were cars with ChatGPT and there were robots with wheels so that they can drive around people’s houses.

But the most discussed product of the event was not artificial intelligence stuck into an existing product, like so many of the other marketing plays on display. Instead, it was an entirely new product built solely for AI.

It was the Rabbit R1, and beyond that it’s not quite clear what it is. It looks like a rounded rectangle with a screen, a camera and a scroll wheel to let you get around. It doesn’t really look like a phone, but that is probably the closest comparison. Its creators describe it as the “future of human-machine interface”, and a “pocket companion”.