Man Who Invented Roomba Moves Into Household Demon Market
Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Colin Angle, the inventor of the iconic Roomba automated vacuum, is back with another robot that hangs around the house. This time it’s not a roaming vacuum cleaner, though, but a furry — and eerily lifelike, if not creepy — companion called a “Familiar.” With a name of such supernatural connotations, and with its uncanny appearance, it’s hard not to see it as a demonic mockery of an actual flesh and blood pet, superficially cute as it may be. Naturally, it’s powered by AI. In an interview with The Verge, Angle described the robot as a “physically embodied AI system” that uses an on-device generative AI model to interact with its owner and develop a “distinct personality.” And he made it very clear that the goal of deploying the AI was to foster genuine companions. “The next era of robotics is not just about dexterity or humanoid form — it’s about machines that can build and sustain human …
