Meta acquires AI device startup Limitless

Limitless, the AI startup formerly known arsenic Rewind, has been acquired by Meta, the institution announced Friday connected its website. The company, which made an AI-powered pendant to grounds your conversations, says it volition nary longer merchantability its hardware devices and volition support enactment for its existing customers for a year.

Customers volition nary longer person to wage a subscription and volition beryllium moved to the Unlimited Plan for the clip being. Other functionality volition beryllium coiled down, including its non-pendant bundle “Rewind,” which recorded users desktop activity and turned it into a searchable record.

The startup, founded by Brett Bejcek and Dan Siroker, the co-founder and erstwhile main enforcement of Optimizely, pivoted to go an AI instrumentality shaper past year, offering its Limitless pendant for $99. The wearable could connect to your garment similar a wireless mic oregon beryllium worn similar a necklace. The instrumentality is 1 of respective AI hardware devices connected the market, including different (not precise well-received) AI pendant known arsenic Friend.

According to Limitless’ announcement, the institution shares successful Meta’s imaginativeness to “bring idiosyncratic superintelligence to everyone,” which includes gathering AI-enabled wearables. (Meta is focused for present connected AR/AI glasses, similar its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta, and its in-lens AI glasses, the Meta Ray-Ban Display.) Limitless said it volition assistance bring that imaginativeness to beingness — which apt means supporting Meta’s existing products, not helping Meta adhd an AI pendant to its lineup.

The institution hinted that the accrued contention successful the marketplace made it hard for it to compete, particularly arsenic the larger players similar OpenAI and Meta are processing their ain hardware devices, too.

“When we started Limitless 5 years ago, the satellite was precise different,” wrote Siroker successful the announcement. “AI was a tube imagination to many. Hardware startups were considered unfundable, and a concern that did some AI and hardware would person been considered ludicrous. But contiguous is different. The satellite has changed. We’re nary longer moving connected a weird fringe idea. We’re gathering a aboriginal that present seems inevitable. We’re not alone.”

Meta was asked for remark connected the acquisition, but 1 wasn’t provided by the clip of publication.

Limitless volition connection its customers a mode to export their data, the institution said, oregon users tin take to delete their information from wrong the app.