SpaceX has a prototype of an AI device, and it sure looks more like a phone

Elon MuskSpaceX showed investors a prototype of a “phone-like” AI device. The Wall Street Journal reports.

The prototype is said to be sleeker and thinner than an iPhone, which makes us wonder if it’s something between a small touchscreen phone and a device. Rabbit R1. SpaceX reportedly showed the device to investors and stakeholders before going public, telling them that the design was still at an early enough stage that the design could still be changed.

Musk denied these reports, describing them as “Completely false.”

SpaceX, along with sister company Tesla, has the manufacturing expertise needed to produce a wide range of AI devices, not to mention access to the chips needed to run any on-device computing. SpaceX has also indicated that it is keen to expand into wireless communications, with Starlink Mobile seen as a potential competitor to Verizon and AT&T. One analyst even went so far as to speculate as much T-Mobile or AT&T That would make good takeover targets for the rocket maker, although such a purchase would undoubtedly be expensive.

It’s also not clear whether SpaceX is just throwing spaghetti at the wall or whether it will attempt to mass produce and market such a device. But one thing that seems clearer is that if OpenAI is doing it, Musk might want to try to do it better.

As we know, OpenAI is working with Jony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer, on an AI-powered device, which CEO Sam Altman has claimed will be More peaceful than iPhone. Reports last fall suggested the company was struggling to get the details right, and OpenAI recently hired another Apple executive to help get things moving. News dropped last week that Paul Mead, Apple’s vice president responsible for the Vision Pro headset, Join the hardware team at OpenAI.

Like OpenAI, SpaceX’s prototype is said to be designed to run on a proprietary operating system and integrate technology from xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company that SpaceX acquired earlier this year. This would prevent these new devices from falling within another company’s platforms (such as Google’s Android). But the goal also seems to be to create something new using native AI interfaces. However, the graveyard is littered with unsuccessful launches of AI devices from companies like Humane and Rabbit. A company wanting to sell an AI device does not mean consumers will want to buy something like that. yet.