Rabbit R1: A New AI Gadget Executes Smartphone Tasks With LAM Power
This is the first product from an American startup called Rabbit. This one has been designed by Teenage Engineering (perhaps that's why it reminds us a little of the PlayDate) and is, in short, a companion. A small device that we can carry with us, that is completely independent of the mobile phone and that integrates with the most popular services so that, using voice commands, we can do whatever we want. Let's look at it more closely.
Equipped with artificial intelligence, its CEO and founder insists that the goal is not to immediately replace smartphones. Priced at $199, the R1 is an autonomous AI device with excessive ambitions.
It is a very simple hardware
In terms of physical appearance, it resembles an action camera or a Playdate console, sport a compact design featuring a 2.88-inch touch screen, a rotating camera, and a scroll wheel.
Under the hood, we find a 2.3 GHz MediaTek processor, 4GB of memory and 128GB of storage, all in a rounded chassis designed by Teenage Engineering. Its battery promises a day of autonomy, equivalent to that of a classic smartphone.
Rabbit OS with a 'big action model'
But the real innovation lies in the software: Rabbit OS and its underlying AI technology. Unlike large language models like ChatGPT, Rabbit OS relies on a “Large Action Model” (LAM). It serves as a versatile controller for various applications. In spirit, Rabbit OS works a bit like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. It can manage your music, order a car, shop, send messages and more, all through a single interface.
Instead of building APIs and convincing developers to support R1, Rabbit trained its model to use existing applications. LAM is a method that allows the device to learn to perform actions and repeat them autonomously. The R1 also offers a specific training mode. You can teach the device a task, and it is supposed to be able to reproduce it on its own afterward.
So if someone asks the R1 to order an Uber for the office, select music for the ride, and notify their team of a slight delay, the LAM interacts directly by using the required applications to execute these functions.
Rabbit developed the Rabbit Hole web portal to seamlessly combine multiple services. This includes uses a Rabbit virtual machine to instruct devices on using applications like Photoshop, eliminating the need for individual software installations. For the moment, this nevertheless remains very theoretical, but we understand how it works.
Rabbit's approach is ingenious. Encouraging developers to support a new operating system poses a formidable task, even for major technology corporations. Rabbit's LAM reverses this dynamic by simply training the model to use applications. Rabbit OS has the potential to become the equivalent of ChatGPT for the App Store. There are obviously many challenges and we have many doubts, but the idea is fascinating.
The Rabbit R1 is up for pre-order, and CEO Jesse Lyu is hoping for delivery in March, with the ambition of beating Humane's AI Pin to market.
