Why you won’t find many options if you’re looking for AI gifts

Shoppers looking for gadgets and gadgets powered by generative AI technology to gift their loved ones won’t have many options to choose from this holiday season.

Generative artificial intelligence has taken Silicon Valley by storm since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022. Although startups have raised billions to create new GenAI tools and tech giants have purchased million of Nvidia processors to train AI models, few companies have delivered new hardware built with new age technology as the focal point.

There was a lot of optimism about the potential of GenAI gadgets at the CES show in January, said Paul Gagnon, vice president at analytics firm Circana. In particular, products from big-name startups like Humane and Rabbit, marketed as being able to translate, answer questions, take voice memos and trigger alarms, were creating buzz, Gagnon said.

But many of these new GenAI devices haven’t worked as well as expected, with critics saying the gadgets were too good. slow and too inclined to failure.

“As the year went on, and these kinds of promises — which, to be honest, were kind of nebulous at the beginning — there was a little bit of difficulty communicating that to consumers,” Gagnon said.

One of the main reasons GenAI hardware hasn’t seen a breakthrough is that current devices are “compute constrained,” meaning they require more powerful silicon chips and related components to work better, especially compared to smartphones, said Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies. a market research company.

Additionally, consumers may find current GenAI devices too expensive and may not know what these devices can actually do, he said.

GenAI devices, such as the Ray-Ban Meta Smart glasses also typically require a connection to a smartphone for an associated app as well as strong internet access, because a poor internet connection can cause performance lags that frustrate people, Bajarin said.

While companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Dell and Lenovo have also widely marketed new lines of personal computers capable of performing GenAI tasks, but consumers are not yet up to the sales pitch, said Ryan Reith, IDC program vice president for mobile devices.

“I don’t think consumers really need to buy one of these more expensive PCs,” Reith said, noting that people may not understand why they need more powerful computers when they can already access to tools such as ChatGPT. via their current PCs.

The reality is that even though GenAI has captivated Silicon Valley, it is still “zero” in terms of widespread adoption, Bajarin said.

“Even though I can cite all these productivity statistics about how people are using AI today, it’s a very small number of people,” he said. “It’s not common.”

It may not be until 2025 that consumers see a “big explosion” of computers, smartphones and new GenAI gadgets, said Steve Koenig, vice president of research at the Consumer Technology Association, which produces CES. .

Although Silicon Valley hasn’t had a banner year for GenAI hardware, here are some GenAI devices early adopters can buy.

With the help of the device’s microphones and camera, for example, users can ask the Meta AI digital assistant to recommend a recipe as they walk down a grocery aisle and scan the shelves, a the company said in a statement. blog post.

Meta, which makes Facebook and Instagram, is selling select versions of the glasses for 20% off until December 2. This means that a pair of Ray-Ban Meta Skyler style glasses will cost $239.20 instead of $299 if purchased online.

Equipped with a camera and two mics, the r1 can record audio clips and set timers or perform more advanced tasks, like helping users recall details of past conversations, search results and voice recordings. After shipments of the device began in March, reviewers critical the R1 for stumbling through various tasks and not eclipsing smartphones capable of performing many of the same functions.

The startup “used this feedback to quickly make very significant improvements to the user experience” and released numerous updates to improve it, Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu told CNBC in a statement.

Despite the harsh criticism, Rabbit has “sold more than 100,000 r1 devices when we initially thought we would sell only 3,000” and the company “is seeing a return rate of less than 5%, which is very solid for a premium product.” generation “. » said Lyu.

Rabbit is currently running a deal that gives buyers free shipping, or $15 off, if they order an r1 before December 4th.

After raising $7 million in July, startup Bee AI will begin selling its GenAI device, the Bee, on Friday.

The Bee looks like an internet-connected smartwatch and works like an advanced digital assistant. Its two microphones allow it to listen to and analyze people’s voice memos and conversations to provide summaries and to-do lists, Maria de Lourdes Zollo, CEO of Bee AI, told CNBC.

The Bee can also be integrated with healthcare tools and users’ Google and Gmail accounts to help generate personalized summaries and action items, Zollo said. Although the startup offers a Bee app for the Apple Watch for people who don’t want to purchase another hardware device, it said the main Bee device is better at understanding voices in noisy environments.

Buyers can buy Bee for $49.99 and get its basic features, but they’ll have to pay a $15 per month subscription for more features like “better memory or better capabilities,” Zollo said.

For Black Friday, Bee is offering shoppers three free months of device subscription service. The device should ship in time for Christmas, Zollo said.

Watch: Former Apple designers launch $700 Humane AI Pin as smartphone replacement.