Figure AI Founder Bets on ‘Family’ of AI Devices with New Venture Hark

Serial tech founder Brett Adcock has launched a new startup, Hark, which aims to build a family of artificial intelligence devices.

The Figure AI founder and CEO is jumping into an emerging segment with a lot of buzz, as OpenAI, Apple, Meta, and Google are all planning to launch hardware specifically for AI usage.

While the launch date for these devices has not been disclosed, Adcock told Bloomberg that they would arrive shortly after the startup’s large language model (LLM), which is scheduled for this summer. According to Adcock, this LLM will focus on speech and memory, with improved capabilities to anticipate user needs.

“We do believe that there’s more than one device to rule the world here,” said Adcock. “We’re working on a family of AI devices both for yourself and for the home.”

Form factor of the AI device

The form factor for the AI device has not been settled. Some see an AI pendant, such as the Humane AI Pin, as one potential option, with users speaking to the chatbot and allowing it to see what’s in front of them.

Another form factor could be a connected smart hub, able to communicate across several devices in the home and provide answers through text and voice. OpenAI is reportedly exploring a smart speaker with similar connected capabilities.

Smart glasses appear to be where Meta, Google, and Apple are focusing, with all three reportedly working on glasses that place AI at the center of the experience. Meta already leads the smart glasses market and has accelerated its timeline with a $3.5 billion investment in eyewear designer EssilorLuxottica.

Apple has also reportedly put other wearable plans on hold to prioritise its smart glasses launch, which could arrive this year.

Sunken cost to beat the smartphone?

In some ways, the smartphone is already a well-equipped device for interacting with AI. It remains a far better form factor than a pin or smart glasses for text-based AI usage, which is how the vast majority of people communicate with ChatGPT and other chatbots.

At the same time, a top-end smartphone has excellent front and rear cameras, significant processing power for high-intensity AI tasks, and it is far more natural for users to speak to their phone than to their glasses or a pin.

There is a concern, especially given the level of investment already going into AI infrastructure, that this could become a sunk cost. Meta sold seven million smart glasses in 2025, a notable achievement but still a small fraction of the 1.2 billion smartphones sold that year.

That is, before considering potential backlash against smart glasses, pins, and other always-on devices that raise privacy concerns in public or professional settings. Misuse by bad actors is already an issue, which could limit adoption and push users back toward their smartphones.

Related reading: Want more on AI hardware? Rumors suggest OpenAI is developing a smart speaker with a built-in camera, expected in 2026.

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