AI startup Rabbit is one of the highlights of CES 2024 thanks to its r1 AI gadget that should be able to do something ChatGPT can’t. Thanks to its Large Action Model (LAM), the r1 not-a-phone device can perform tasks for you in apps. Examples include booking an Uber, accessing your Spotify account, planning a trip, from flight to hotel reservations, or even learning the interaction mechanism of new apps. That’s on top of answering any other questions via voice, in the style of ChatGPT, but supposedly faster.
These are some of the use cases Rabbit showed off in its short but captivating presentation earlier this week. A launch event that made me want to pull the trigger on that $199 purchase, but I had to stop to rethink my options. It turns out other fans of AI products were not as cautious as I was. Rabbit got some 10,000 preorders during the first day, which means the r1 is effectively sold out as of this writing.
All hope is not lost, however. You can still preorder the AI device for the same $199 price. The difference is you won’t be among the first batch of customers to receive the playful-looking gadget.
The first batch of Rabbit r1 devices won’t ship until March. And that’s only to US buyers, as international customers have to wait.
Rabbit took to Twitter/X to announce the impressive milestone, appearing slightly shocked:
When we started building r1, we said internally that we’d be happy if we sold 500 devices on launch day. In 24 hours, we already beat that by 20x!
10,000 units on day 1!
If you still want a Rabbit r1 but haven’t purchased yours, you can do it whenever you want. The longer you wait, the later that shipment will come. Rabbit says the second batch will ship between April and May, without offering specific dates.
That’s the usual experience when ordering any new product from a startup.
Humane’s Ai Pin, the other AI-centric “not-a-phone” device that launched in recent months, offered a similar purchase experience. You can order the device right now, but it won’t start shipping until March. There’s no firm release date for the significantly more expensive gadget. The Ai Pin costs $699, compared to just $199 for the r1. And Humane needs a monthly subscription for its AI device to work.
Even well-established firms will need time to manufacture and ship a brand-new product. Valve’s Steam Deck is one such example. You had to wait for months after you preordered the device, and the actual ship dates came much later. The faster you preordered, the sooner you’d get the Steam Deck.
With all that in mind, I still maintain my caution. There’s no point to hurry and order a Rabbit r1. I’ll still have to wait. By the time the second batch ships, I might already know what the next iOS and Android versions can do in terms of built-in personal AI.
I did say I expect Apple and Google to offer features similar to r1 at some point in the near future. It remains to be seen how soon their GPTs can deliver LAM actions like Rabbit says the r1 can do.
I’d prefer my smartphone to perform some of the features the r1 and Ai Pin can do rather than buying new mobile hardware. But I will say I find the idea of wearable AI more and more interesting.