John Ive Criticizes Rabbit and Humane's Products as Poorly Designed

During the announcement of a reported $6.5 billion collaboration on AI hardware between his startup, io, and OpenAI, Jony Ive spoke with Bloomberg and offered his assessment of last year's attempts to bring AI hardware to market, specifically the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI Pin.

There have been public failures, such as the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1 personal assistant device. Ive, 58, described these as "very poor products," noting "an absence of new ways of thinking expressed in products."

In an emailed statement to The Verge, Rabbit founder Jesse Lyu referred to Ive as his "hero." He stated, "It's an honor to be mentioned by Jony Ive and Sam Altman regarding Rabbit and the r1. However, we prefer not to be compared with Humane, a company that ceased its efforts, was acquired, and subsequently shut down." His complete comments are included below.

Our original reviews aligned with Ive's critique. David Pierce concluded the Pin "doesn't work" and labeled the R1 "a worse and less functional version of your smartphone."

Humane, which, like io, was founded by former Apple employees, has since vanished following an acquihire by HP and discontinued all AI Pin service in February.

The Rabbit R1 continues to operate, even as the initial excitement around its "large action model" seems to have faded. The company recently introduced a memory log feature to provide its AI assistant with interaction context. It is also offering a free trial of Intern, described as "an upgraded AI-native operating system that coordinates multiple agents to accomplish tasks," available even without owning an R1, while development on rabbitOS 2.0 progresses.

Statement from Jesse Lyu, founder and CEO of Rabbit:

First, Jony Ive is my hero. His work has inspired me since I was a teenager, ultimately leading me to start a company focused on crafting integrated hardware and software experiences.

Rabbit is among the pioneering firms exploring this new AI era, deeply considering a fresh definition of human-machine interaction, much like the original Macintosh or iPhone.

It's an honor to be acknowledged by Jony Ive and Sam Altman. That said, we dislike being lumped together with Humane, a company that gave up, was acquired, and closed down.

Conversely, as a small team, we lack the immense resources, like $6.4 billion, that Jony and Sam possess. We recognize the r1's initial experience was rough and required fixes. The reality is we are still diligently working to enhance the product. We will demonstrate what Rabbit can achieve by 2026.

It is a tremendous honor that Jony and Sam, whom I deeply respect, have chosen to join Rabbit in this new venture to build their product. We welcome all competition, from large corporations or startups. Healthy competition ultimately benefits the customer. I am personally thrilled to see the next innovation Jony creates, and Rabbit will learn much from his work.

For a resource-limited startup like Rabbit, it's always a David versus Goliath scenario. However, it's particularly thrilling when Goliath is the legendary Jony Ive.

Updated May 21st: Includes response from Rabbit's CEO.