Do you bear in mind rabbit r1, the orange and sq. sensible system, powered by AI, which was the speak of the city final yr? It nearly died. It’s now again. That is excellent news for the tech house.
What was all of the fuss about?
The golden rule for startups is to ship quick, break issues, study and iterate rapidly. That provides founders hubris and stamina, and enterprise capital the hope that one in every of these trial-and-error gigs will hit the jackpot. Most startups don’t survive. rabbit, which got here to sudden fame throughout 2024 CES in Las Vegas (the most effective tech honest on the earth), nearly collapsed below the strain of hype and a flood of unfavourable critiques. The corporate is now again, after having revolutionized their gear, and hopes for a much less nerve-racking second life
What occurred in Vegas didn’t keep there. Founder and CEO Jesse Lyu’s video-presentation hit thousands and thousands of views in a single day. rabbit was a 17-people workforce, with a gross sales goal of 5,000 items for r1, its first product. At a time when solely a small handful of gamers had begun engaged on AI-native software-in-hardware options, they bought greater than 8,000 items inside hours from the launch. Greater than 100,000 pre-orders occurred within the first two months alone.
r1’s expertise had numerous limitations. Reviewers famous issues instantly, significantly compared to smartphones’ requirements. Some critics rapidly latched onto AI merchandise like r1 as a proof-point to justify a normal sense of disappointment about AI. The early r1 expertise was dangerous information for the entire AI motion. Nonetheless, as batches of 10,000 items shipped each month, suggestions grew to become essential for resurrection.
What occurred then?
In a nutshell, it was like a turnaround textbook. rabbit hosted hours-long weekly suggestions workshops with its core group. Over a yr and a half, they launched greater than 30 over-the-air software program updates and numerous cloud-based updates. These efforts fastened r1 flaws and placated the media and social media debate.
rabbit was the primary firm to ship AI brokers at scale, and their system, which helps customers navigate web sites and carry out actions on the go, was key for the turnaround. Constructing on the momentum of agentic AI, rabbit launched its second product, rabbit intern, which is an all-purpose AI agent that provides any particular person the skills of a whole workforce, delivering high-quality, polished web sites, analysis experiences, displays, video games, and extra. The system has its personal normal company to cause, plan, coordinate and execute duties, primarily based on natural-language prompts. Shoppers can assign rabbit duties they may usually delegate to their intern at work. And, the system boosts its capabilities over time, finally reaching a sophisticated stage, just like a extremely skilled skilled.
With rabbitOS 2, launched for all r1 gadgets in September 2025, the corporate redesigned the previous interface. The cardboard-based design leverages the acquainted idea of a deck of playing cards. Every function has its personal card within the stack, permitting customers to browse and entry them by swiping or utilizing the scroll wheel.
Now, right here is the true gem. rabbit’s latest agentic AI improvement, known as “creations”, offers customers the facility to construct new software program instruments, video games, and different experiences by means of real-time conversations with its agent. In a matter of minutes, the creation will seem immediately on the system and might be prepared to make use of straight away. Impressed by the rise in vibe coding, creations makes it simpler for all customers, no matter their technical abilities (even with zero coding data), to create something they need. As extra creations grow to be accessible, they are often shared by means of a built-in app retailer. Greater than 5,000 creations have been made inside six days from launch.
What’s the excellent news?
rabbit r1 is the primary system that lets customers generate their very own interface, voice, and software program on system by chatting with an AI agent. Customers also can simply share their creations with different r1 customers.
AI might be increasingly more dominated by brokers and by the intersection of {hardware} and software program. AI desperately wants a plurality of voices and locations the place creators can share (and, in the future, earn, proportionally to their willingness to play). For many who are too younger to recollect, Fb (and social media, as a enterprise) was born as an open and artistic house, the place monetizing information was not absolutely the precedence for Meta. AI dangers turning into as centralized, oligopolistic and closed as Net 2.0, except new gamers get an opportunity to empower and reward creators, who can use the platform for their very own functions, whereas overtly sharing output with friends. rabbit’s second life have to be dedicated to delivery, studying and particularly empowering followers, if it desires to outlive and depart a mark within the AI world.
Have you ever learn?
World’s Most Revolutionary Nations.
Nations by Common Wealth per Individual.
World’s most peaceable international locations.
Largest and Smallest Nations (Inhabitants).
