OpenAI's First AI Device Will Be a Portable Smart Speaker

[tonmischa]

Your new friend: $299.

Good friend: $499. Best friend: $599

Girl friend: $3,999 (1st year, $10,999/yr thereafter)

 

[jb310]

People familiar with the project told Bloomberg that the device is different from anything Apple has on the market today, and it is "unlikely" it violates Apple trade secrets. Though Apple has the HomePod and HomePod mini speakers, OpenAI does not see Apple's speakers as comparable to its hardware product.

Well... it sounds like a HomePod with batteries and a better Siri 😅

 

[Blue Nova]

I dont think it’s a device I’m interested in.

I think it will lead for a humanoid like, this is their test step.

 

[deckard666]

At least its not a dead-in-the-water personal mobile data gathering unit like smart glasses !

 

[ravitejaknts]

What a disappointment.

They shut down Sora, which had promise, to make this?

Sora never had promise, it had slop. This is much more useful than Sora

 

[ravitejaknts]

Soooooo a HomePod. Gotcha. Still don't want it, Sam!

Homepod is made by Apple. We all know how good Apple is when creating smart stuff. This is like saying ChatGPT is just like Siri. They are miles apart.

 

[ravitejaknts]

So they’re reinventing the Echo?

Although I can’t comment because I haven’t owned an Alexa for a few years, I believe it does support Amazon‘s own AI via the cloud and potentially has Alexa skills for other AI models?

So, what are open AI trying to achieve here because even Amazon themselves say that most if not all of their echo models lose money in terms of selling the hardware?

I could be wrong, but I believe the smart speaker market has already peaked and is potentially oversaturated.

So what will their speaker offer over every other smart speaker on the market, outside of having a camera of which who wants that in their home?

Especially considering, the mining of customer data and lack of privacy is getting worse every year.

I’ve also done my best not to mention the HomePods too much in this, but my guess is the next generation HomePod mini and HomePod will most likely support AI in someway and that’s not even considering apple’s rumoured HomePod with a display and camera for FaceTime calls.

I might be missing something, but what are other peoples thoughts?

I dont think OpenAI is just trying to include AI here. OpenAI is current good with Agents. If they include the support for agents and tool call, Echo does not even come close in comparision. However they need to get it right, else this will go down as one of the biggest failures of OpenAI.

Imagine Codex support or fully automating your digital tasks. I guess they are in much better position to do so now.

 

[zenmacx]

If OpenAI thinks they can enter the high-end consumer hardware market with a product that locks out iPhone users, I wish them luck.

Some tech companies led by big ego narcissists overlook the fact that Apple has built an empire off snob appeal, premium pricing, controlling the narrative and illusion of superiority.

Yes the Cupertino company has excellent products, but maintaining massive profits keeps shareholders happy and committed for the long haul. As a long term customer I'm reasonably satisfied, as a long term shareholder I'm delighted.

 

[Xade]

Uh, what now?

More crap you don't need!

 

[Xade]

At this point I'm convinced Johnny Ive is sabotaging OpenAI from the inside. A true SJ successor.

Did his best with Ferrari!

 

[goborgh]

Sam Altman is Cooked!!!

 

[Xade]

Maybe a cheap device and a costly subscription? 🤔

There's always a subscription.....

 

[zenmacx]

What’s the difference between the Apple smart speaker and the ChatGPT one?

Apple uses Siri whose catchphrase is “I don’t understand that”. ChatGPT is light years ahead of Apple.

It continues to boggle the minds of many.

How Siri can be so utterly stupid, should embarrass all those who are responsible in Cupertino.

Not to mention the legions of devotees that accept whatever the company puts out as what’s best for said users.

 

[Xade]

That's some serious lack of imagination. "Smart speakers" as you know them are pretty lame devices. But we are right the beginning of what will eventually be AI-driven bots that you speak to, who speak back, who do tasks for you, and eventually do physical jobs around the house. The AI we have now is pretty contained inside of an app. When it has its own hardware, you're going to see things you never thought of. Or things you've only seen in science fiction.

"I'll be back..."

 

[Piggie]

Purely voice interaction, to me, totally sucks.

It has its place, but it’s not even close to “ideal”.

I think too many people making these things have been poisoned by fantasy sci-fi shows.

That feels rather illogical if you think about it.

You are basically saying that only being able to speak to other humans totally sucks.
The only other interation you can have with another human is touch, from a light brush of their skin, to a hard punch.

That's all.

Your only method of interacting with any other human is via speech.

So you are saying a device that does exactly that, would totally suck.

That's not logical, unless you want to touch/hit a AI device to give you the full human experience.

 

[Ferrandix]

a smart speaker that can’t do your laundry

 

[Happy_John]

That's some serious lack of imagination. "Smart speakers" as you know them are pretty lame devices. But we are right the beginning of what will eventually be AI-driven bots that you speak to, who speak back, who do tasks for you, and eventually do physical jobs around the house. The AI we have now is pretty contained inside of an app. When it has its own hardware, you're going to see things you never thought of. Or things you've only seen in science fiction.

Except this product is none of what you’re taking about.

It’s a “smart speaker” where all the “smarts” is a service, as it’s live Chat GPT.

Your science-fiction is still science fiction. This product is a HomePod, not the second coming.

You’re criticising “a lack of imagination”, but, in terms if shipping a product, there should be no need for imagination. Imagination means that the product is lacking. If the product’s concept has been realised, you shouldn’t need to imagine.

You buy a consumer product for what it is, not for what you imagine it could be.

 

[Happy_John]

Sora never had promise, it had slop. This is much more useful than Sora

How? It sounds like a voice-only terminal for chatGPT.

If you own a smartphone, this is a redundant device. There’s no reason to buy it other than to have another shiny trinket.

 

[Happy_John]

That feels rather illogical if you think about it.

You are basically saying that only being able to speak to other humans totally sucks.
The only other interation you can have with another human is touch, from a light brush of their skin, to a hard punch.

That's all.

Your only method of interacting with any other human is via speech.

So you are saying a device that does exactly that, would totally suck.

That's not logical, unless you want to touch/hit a AI device to give you the full human experience.

But it’s NOT a person, it’s an imitation of a person.

Tools don’t need to have simulated personality. They just need to be tools.

That’s the part that sucks. He “let’s pretend” aspect of interacting with a machine and it an able to con yourself into think it’s an interaction with a person.

Just talk to a person instead. There’s 8 billion or so of them.

 

[izac90]

How does the smart speaker market doing this days?

 

[bluecoast]

If it is a tiny smart speaker - like the one from ‘Her’ (a movie which seems to be OpenAI’s product roadmap) - then this will go down very well I think.

 

[Brother Cavil]

Except this product is none of what you’re taking about.

It’s a “smart speaker” where all the “smarts” is a service, as it’s live Chat GPT.

Your science-fiction is still science fiction. This product is a HomePod, not the second coming.

You’re criticising “a lack of imagination”, but, in terms if shipping a product, there should be no need for imagination. Imagination means that the product is lacking. If the product’s concept has been realised, you shouldn’t need to imagine.

You buy a consumer product for what it is, not for what you imagine it could be.

Wow, so you’ve already seen the product and used it??!

 

[Happy_John]

Wow, so you’ve already seen the product and used it??!

No, I simply read the article properly.

The “smarts” is ChatGPT. The interface is LiveChatGPT.

Both of these technologies can be accessed via a we browser. The heavy lifted is done server side.

Which is what OpenAI wants: a vehicle for subscriptions and token consumption.

So the physical device itself might end up looking nice and pretty, but it’ll be pretty dumb in and of itself. Its purpose is a terminal, to send data to OpenAI and recurve data from OpenAI.

 

[Karma*Police]

It sounds pretty amazing. I’m really looking forward to checking it out. No wonder Apple is terrified. It sounds like what HomePod should’ve been from the get go. Instead, 10 years later, Apple is chasing Alexa with a display, which seems like the most reasonable rumor based on Apple’s recent lackluster history of innovation… or lack thereof.

 

[Happy_John]

It sounds pretty amazing. I’m really looking forward to checking it out. No wonder Apple is terrified. It sounds like what HomePod should’ve been from the get go. Instead, 10 years later, Apple is chasing Alexa with a display, which seems like the most reasonable rumor based on Apple’s recent lackluster history of innovation… or lack thereof.

You’re comparing 10 year the of technology to technology not yet released. That’s not a useful comparison.

The only useful comparison you will be able to make is when both OpenAI release their device and Apple release a new HomePod (or similar device) with Siri AI. Neither have been released, so you can’t say which is better.

Both will have very similar functions though, so it’s very doubtful that the release of both will squash the accusations that OpenAI stole Apple’s internal development and manufacturing processes.

There’s nothing about this proposed device that us original - all the “features” mentioned in the article have been attempted in other devices, and have been leaked as features in Apple’s (and other companies’) upcoming devices.

Take away the “OpenAI” branding, there’s not much here to suggest that thus will be gamechanger. Sticking te letters “AI” to a product doesn’t automatically magically make that product more exciting or innovative. Internally, it’s most likely a smartwatch or smartphone-based mainboard, some RAM, some storage, speakers, batteries, sensors + mic, and some servos to make the thing move, which is a purely cosmetic feature.

That type of hardware already exists in a cute form factor l:

Reachy Mini - Hugging Face

All about Reachy Mini, from building to getting started

huggingface.co

There’s a strong smell of “air fryer” about this - people had ovens in their kitchens, but went out about “air fryers” anyway, ie, a second smaller oven.

So far, there is no indication that this OpenAI device will do anything that can’t be done on your smartphone. If you want a second device that does the same thing as your first device, cool, go for it, but there’s no added value o doing so except “cuteness” or aesthetics.