Tony Fadell on why the first wave of AI gadgets failed — and what comes next

Tony Fadell spoke at MIT Future Fest on October 7, critiquing the first wave of consumer AI gadgets that have since been discontinued. He highlighted three examples—Apple’s Rabbit R1, Humane’s AI pin, and Limitless’s pendant—showing that the products never met a real user need.

Fadell explained that these devices promised a personal assistant but lacked the trust and practicality that people expect. He noted that only about 0.01 % of people have ever had a human assistant, so most consumers don’t even know what an assistant should do. He cited a security flaw found in Meta’s newly launched Muse and the company’s rush to patch it, underscoring that safety is a major hurdle.

Fadell argued that only a company with strong hardware and privacy credentials—Apple, for example—could build a trustworthy on‑device AI agent, because keeping data local protects privacy and keeps the technology lightweight. The talk suggests that future AI helpers will need to run entirely on the device, not rely on cloud data centers, to gain user confidence.

It also points out that startups have only one chance to get product‑market fit, making the stakes higher than for established firms.

What remains unclear is which company will successfully deliver a secure, on‑device