humanitarian love pin and Rabbit handheld have received considerable press attention for their respective approaches to integrating generative AI and hardware. Humane, in particular, presents wearables as a perspective on life beyond smartphones. Naturally, this begs the question, “What exactly is wrong with smartphones?” While it's true that form factors have reached a plateau, these devices are still in the hands of billions of people around the world.
Earlier this week, I met Jerry Yue amidst the cacophony of sounds at Deutsche Telekom's Mobile World Congress booth. After a product demo and a sit-down conversation, I'll admit that I was impressed by the Brain.ai (aka Brain Technologies) founder and CEO's vision for the future of smartphones. I can't say I'm completely convinced until I have a chance to spend more time with the product, but it does paint a convincing picture of how generative AI could become the basis for next-generation devices. There is no doubt about it.
The whole “future of smartphones” part may be hyperbolic, but at least some of the industry's biggest companies are currently exploring how their generative AI can effectively form the backbone of their products' operating systems. I think that's what I'm doing. But while telcos may be looking to the future, the interface may become more obscure for consumers. This implementation flips the paradigm of current smartphone operating systems and requires a demo to fully understand how it's different and why it's useful. I'll admit I wasn't completely charmed by the pitch, but observing it in action clearly shows its effectiveness.
This OS is not completely separate from Google's open operating system, but only in the sense that it is built on top of the Android kernel. As we can see from Huawei's development of HarmonyOS during the Trump administration, it is quite possible to create something different from Android based on it. Here, generative AI is not just integrated into the system, but is the foundation for how we interact with the device, how it responds, and the interfaces it builds.
The concept of an “AI phone” is not entirely new.In fact, it's a phrase you often hear. a lot In the next few years. I'm sure I'll be sick of it by December. Elements of AI/ML have been integrated into devices in one form or another for several years. Among other things, this technology is the basis for computational photography, the processing of data collected by camera sensors that occur on chips.
But earlier this month, Samsung became one of the first major companies to seriously embrace the concept of “AI phones.” The difference here is the arrival of generative AI, the technology behind programs like Google Gemini and ChatGPT. Again, a lot of the integration is on the imaging side, but it's starting to filter into other aspects as well.
Image credits: brian heater
Given the size of the investment Google has made in Gemini, it's no surprise that this trend will accelerate in the coming years. Apple also plans to enter the space at some point later this year. I wouldn't classify generative AI as a complete game-changer in these devices just yet, but it's clear that companies that don't embrace it now will be left behind in the years to come.
Brain.ai's use of technology goes much deeper than other current implementations. However, from a hardware perspective, this is a standard smartphone. In fact, the deal with Deutsche Telekom, which his Yue exhibited in a magenta-colored booth, marks the first time the operating system will be available here in the U.S. through a device known as his T-Mobile REVVL (also known as the “T Phone”). It means seeing the light of day. in international markets like the EU). Yue said the exact model, release date and contract details will be revealed “soon.”
But the truth is that the Brain interface is hardware agnostic and designed to adapt to the form factor it's running on. Of course, that's not to say that hardware isn't important. For example, the T-Mobile REVVL Plus is essentially a budget cell phone that costs about $200. It's not a flagship by any means, but with a Snapdragon 625 processor and dual rear cameras of 13-megapixel and 15-megapixel, respectively, it's good value for money. Although 2GB of RAM isn't a lot, Yue claims that Brain.ai's operating system can do more with less. Also, once again, we don't know what the specific specs of the device will be at launch.
The interface starts with a static screen. From there, ask questions using voice or text prompts. As an example, Yue asks the system to “recommend a present to an old lady who can't get out of bed.” From there, the Brain starts working on retrieving an interface specific to the query, rather than a response to it. In this case, it is an aggregated e-commerce result. The resulting page is barebones from a design perspective, with black text on a white background. Sentences alternate with boxes that indicate the outcome (in this case, Blanket and Kindle).
The query is at the top. It, like many interfaces, is interactive. In this case, you can change your search by tapping . Tapping on an image, on the other hand, adds it to the third-party e-commerce site's shopping cart, where you can check it out. Please note that all demo results are taken directly from Amazon. Yue said the system will incorporate around 7,000 retail sites at launch, and will be able to prioritize results by retailer, company size, etc. (if you want to support small and medium-sized businesses).
Image credits: brian heater
Yue's first example is shopping, but many of the basics apply across the board. Indeed, there is consistency in design across features. This is mainly due to the fact that the device doesn't actually contain any third-party apps. This represents a significant change from the current smartphone landscape over the past 15+ years.
“From a privacy and security standpoint, we want to give people a new level of control that they don't currently have,” Yue says. “Computers understand you, but now they're aggregated into different apps. These AI models are black boxes, recommendation machines that exploit our attention spans. We believe in AI, and we'll explain at every step why we recommend it. More and more people are owning AI, not a big tech black box.”
Adaptability is also a big selling point. The more you query and tune this model, the better the recommendations will become and become more customized for you. Of course, third parties are the main reason why app stores have revolutionized the industry. Suddenly, he went from one company creating the entire experience of a mobile phone to a system that leverages the wisdom and creativity of countless developers. The Brain experience will be a combination of what a team of 100 people can produce and what an AI model can envision. As the model improves, so does its functionality. Although Brain.ai relies on its own models as its primary interface, it also leverages models from third parties such as OpenAI or Google when it deems them better suited to answer a particular query. Masu.
Image credits: brian heater
There are limits to what you can discover with a demo like this, so like many other things, you'll have to wait until you get your hands on the shipping product to really evaluate the experience. I'm particularly interested in how to handle certain applications such as image processing. Note that the REVVL series doesn't have a great camera, so it's not a device for people who prioritize photos and videos unless there's a major upgrade.
Cameras also play an important role in search. One example we discussed is taking photos of menus in foreign countries. It not only translates like Google Lens, but also provides food recommendations based on your tastes. Yue also briefly demonstrated the system's image generation for a simple request appropriate for our environment: create magenta-colored sneakers. This happened very quickly, with the only real bottleneck being the connection speed at the convention center (which is ironic given the setup).
Connectivity is crucial here. AI processing is performed off-device. I've discussed the possibility of adding on-device processing, but Yue couldn't confirm what that would look like at launch. We also didn't have a completely clear answer regarding the offline experience. I think a big part of why Deutsche Telekom is so interested in this product is because it's a product that wouldn't exist in the same way without 5G. This reminds me of Mozilla's ill-fated Firefox OS, his early Chrome OS, or other examples of products that lost important functionality when offline.
Image credits: brian heater
Yue founded Brain in 2015 and remained its sole employee until the company hired a CTO the following year (Yue remains the sole founder). Born in China, he first became involved with technology through his love of robotics and participation in the robot soccer tournament “RoboCup.” At the age of 18 he founded the Chinese social app Friendoc. Two years later, he co-founded his Benlai.com. Benlai.com is now one of the largest food delivery apps in the country. Yue has since moved back to the Bay Area and runs Brain.ai full-time. To date, the company has raised $80 million.
After nearly a decade, the Brain interface is almost ready for launch. And it arrived at the perfect moment. The zeitgeist is hyper-focused on how generative AI can enhance experiences, from standalone devices like the Rabbit and Humane Ai Pin to big tech companies like Samsung marketing their own “AI phones.” Masu.
