Why you won’t find many options if you’re looking for AI gifts

Shoppers looking for gadgets and gizmos powered by generative AI technology to gift to their loved ones won’t have many options to choose from this holiday season.

Generative artificial intelligence has taken Silicon Valley by storm since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022. Although startups have raised billions to build new GenAI tools and tech giants have bought millions of Nvidia processors to train AI models, few companies have delivered new hardware built with the new-age tech as its focal point.

There was a lot of optimism over the potential of GenAI gadgets at the CES trade show in January, said Paul Gagnon, vice president for analyst firm Circana. In particular, products from high-profile startups such as Humane and Rabbit, which were marketed as being able to translate, answer questions, take voice memos and set alarms, were drawing buzz, Gagnon said.

But many of these new GenAI devices didn’t work as well as people expected, with reviewers saying that the gadgets were too slow and too prone to failure.

“As we’ve gone through the year, and those kinds of promises — which I’ll be honest, were pretty nebulous to start with — there’s been a bit of a struggle with communicating that to consumers,” Gagnon said.

A key reason GenAI hardware hasn’t had a breakthrough is that current devices are “compute restrained,” meaning they require more powerful silicon chips and related components to perform better, particularly when compared with smartphones, said Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies, a market research firm.

Additionally, consumers may find current GenAI devices too expensive, and they may be confused about what the devices can actually do, he said.

GenAI devices, such as the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, also typically require a smartphone connection for an accompanying app as well as strong internet access, because a bad internet connection can lead to performance delays that frustrate people, Bajarin said.

While companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Dell and Lenovo have also heavily marketed new lineups of personal computers capable of performing GenAI tasks, consumers have yet to perk up to the sales pitch, said Ryan Reith, an IDC program vice president for mobile devices.

“I don’t think that there’s actually a need for consumers to go out and get one of these more expensive PCs,” Reith said, noting that people may be confused about why they need beefier computers when they can already access tools such as ChatGPT through their current PCs. 

The reality is that while GenAI has captivated Silicon Valley, it’s still “inning zero” in regard to widespread adoption, Bajarin said.

“Even though I can rattle off all these productivity stats of how people are using AI today, it’s a very small number of people,” he said. “This is not mainstream.”

It may not be until 2025 that consumers see a “big explosion” in GenAI computers, smartphones and new gadgets, said Steve Koenig, vice president of research at the Consumer Technology Association, which produces CES.

Despite Silicon Valley not having a breakout year for GenAI hardware, here are a few GenAI devices early adopters can buy.

Meta released the second generation of its Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2023, but the company began rolling out GenAI features for the device earlier this year and announced several new AI capabilities at its Connect event in September. 

The glasses don’t offer users augmented reality capabilities, but people can use the device to take photos, listen to music and ask the Meta AI digital assistant for information about the things within their field of view. 

With the help of the device’s mics and camera, for instance, users can ask the Meta AI digital assistant to recommend a recipe when they walk through a grocery aisle and scan the shelves, the company said in a blog post.

Meta, which makes Facebook and Instagram, is selling certain versions of the glasses for 20% off through Dec. 2. This means that a pair of the Ray-Ban Meta Skyler style of glasses will cost $239.20 instead of $299 if bought online. 

The Rabbit r1 is a $200 gizmo that looks like an orange, miniaturized tablet with a playful aesthetic that’s more Nintendo Switch than Apple iPad. 

Outfitted with a camera and dual mics, the r1 can record audio clips and set timers or perform more advanced tasks, such as helping users recall details from past conversations, search results and voice recordings. After the device began shipping in March, reviewers criticized the r1 for stumbling at various tasks and failing to outshine smartphones that can do many of the same functions. 

The startup “has used that feedback to rapidly make very significant improvements to the user experience” and has released scores of updates to improve, Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu told CNBC in a statement.

Despite the harsh reviews, Rabbit has “sold more than 100,000 r1 devices when we originally expected to sell only 3,000” and the company is “seeing a return rate of less than 5%, which is very solid for a first-generation product,” Lyu said. 

Rabbit is currently running a deal that gives shoppers free shipping, or $15 off, if they order an r1 by Dec. 4.

After raising $7 million in funding in July, the startup Bee AI will begin selling its GenAI device, the Bee, on Friday. 

The Bee looks like an internet-connected smartwatch and functions like an advanced digital assistant. Its dual mics allow it to listen and analyze people’s voice memos and conversations to provide summaries and to-do lists, Bee AI CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo told CNBC.

The Bee can also be integrated with health-care tools and people’s Google and Gmail accounts to help generate personalized summaries and action items, Zollo said. Although the startup offers a Bee app for the Apple Watch for people who don’t want to buy another hardware device, she said the core Bee device is better at understanding voices in loud environments.

Shoppers can buy the Bee for $49.99 and get its basic tasks, but they will have to pay a $15-per-month subscription for more features such as “better memory or better capabilities,” Zollo said.

For Black Friday, Bee is offering shoppers three free months of the device’s subscription service. The device should ship in time for Christmas, Zollo said.

Watch: Former Apple designers launch $700 Humane AI Pin as smartphone replacement.