The Humane Ai Pin and the Rabbit handheld have drawn a lot of press interest for their unique approaches to integrating genetic AI with hardware. Humane, in particular, presents its wearable as a glimpse into life beyond the smartphone. This naturally begs the question: What exactly is wrong with the smartphone? While it’s true that the form factor has plateaued, these devices are still circulating the world, in billions of hands.
Earlier this week, I sat down with Jerry Yue amid the cacophony of Deutsch Telekom’s Mobile World Congress booth. After a product demo and a sit-down discussion, I admit I’m impressed with it Brain (alternatively known as Brain Technologies) the founder and CEO’s vision for the future of smartphones. I won’t go so far as to say I’m fully convinced until I’ve had a chance to spend more time with the product, but it absolutely paints a fascinating picture of how generative AI can be fundamental to the next generation of devices.
The whole “future of smartphones” bit might be overkill, but at the very least, I suspect some of the biggest names in the industry are currently studying how first-party AI is essentially the backbone of the product’s operating system. However, while phone companies may see the future, the interface may prove foggier for consumers. The app subverts the current smartphone operating system paradigm, requiring a demo to fully understand how it’s different and why it’s useful. While I admit it didn’t completely sell me on the pitch, seeing it in action brings its effectiveness into focus.
The operating system is not completely disconnected from Google’s open operating system, but only in the sense that it is built on top of the Android core. As we’ve seen from Huawei’s development of HarmonyOS in the Trump era, it’s entirely possible to build something other than Android using it as a base. Here, genetic AI isn’t just built into the system, it’s the basis for how the device interacts, how it responds, and the interface it creates.
The concept of an “AI phone” isn’t entirely new. In fact, it’s a phrase you’ll hear very in the following years. I guarantee you’ll be sick of it by December. AI/ML elements have been integrated into devices in some form for several years. Among other things, the technology is fundamental to computational photography — that is, the processing of data collected by the camera’s sensor displayed on the chip.
However, earlier this month, Samsung became one of the first major companies to really seed the concept of an “AI phone.” The distinction here is the arrival of genetic artificial intelligence — the technology behind programs like Google Gemini and ChatGPT. Once again, much of the integration is happening on the imaging side, but it’s starting to filter into other aspects as well.
Image Credits: Brian Heater
Given how heavily Google has invested in Gemini, it stands to reason that this trend will only increase in the coming years. Apple, too, will enter the category sometime later this year. I wouldn’t classify Generative AI as a complete gamechanger 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 is much deeper than other current implementations. In terms of hardware, however, it’s a standard smartphone. In fact, the Deutsch Telecom deal that found Yue on display at the magenta booth means that the operating system will first see the light of day via the device known as the T-Mobile REVVL here in the United States (known as the “T Phone” in international markets such as the EU). The exact model, release date and nature of the deal will be revealed “soon,” according to Yue.
The truth, however, is that the Brain interface is designed to be hardware agnostic, adapting to the form factor it’s run on. That’s not to say that hardware isn’t important, of course. At its heart, the T-Mobile REVVL Plus, for example, is a budget phone, priced around $200. It’s not a flagship by any means, but it gives you a decent bang for your buck, including a Snapdragon 625 processor and dual rear cameras at 13 and 15 megapixels, respectively. While 2GB isn’t a lot of RAM, Yue insists Brain.ai’s operating system can do more with less. Also, again, we don’t know what specific specs the device will have at launch.
The interface starts with a static screen. From there, you ask things either by voice or text prompt. In one example, Yue asks the system to “recommend a gift to my grandmother, who can’t get out of bed.” From there, Brain goes to work, pulling not the answer to the query, but a specific interface—in this case, aggregated e-commerce results. The resulting page is bare from a design perspective — black text on a white background. The sentences alternate with boxes that display results (in this case, blankets and Kindles).
The question is at the top. This, like much of the interface, is interactive. In this case, you can tap to modify the search. Meanwhile, clicking on an image will add it to a shopping cart for the third-party e-commerce site, and you can check out from there. I should note that all results in the demo were pulled directly from Amazon. Yue says the system will attract about 7,000 retail sites at launch, and you can prioritize results based on things like retailers and business size (if you prefer to support smaller businesses).
Image Credits: Brian Heater
Markets is the first example Yue shows me, and many of the basics apply across the board. There is definitely consistency in design across features. This is largely due to the fact that the device is virtually devoid of third-party apps. This represents a huge change from the current smartphone landscape of the past 15-plus years.
“From a privacy and security perspective, we want to give a new level of control that people don’t have right now,” Yue. “The computer understands you, now it is concentrated in different applications. These AI models are black boxes — recommendation engines that exploit our attention. We believe in explainable artificial intelligence. We’ll explain, every step of the way, why we’re making a recommendation. You have more people owning the AI rather than big technological black boxes.”
Adaptability is another big selling point. The model improves suggestions and becomes more user-friendly as more queries are run and modified. Of course, third parties were the main reason app stores revolutionized the industry. Suddenly you’ve gone from a company that builds all your phone experiences to a system that harnesses the ingenuity and creativity of countless developers. Brain’s experience will be a combination of what the 100-person team can produce and what the AI model can dream up. As the model improves, so will its functionality. Brain.ai relies on its own model for the main interface, but will pull in third parties like OpenAI and Google when it finds they are better equipped to answer a particular query.
Image Credits: Brian Heater
There are limits to what one can discover in a demo like this, so as with many other items, I’ll have to wait until I have a shipping product in my hands to really evaluate the experience. I’m particularly interested in how it handles certain applications, such as imaging. It’s worth noting that the REVVL series doesn’t have great cameras, so unless there’s a major upgrade, this won’t be the device for those who prioritize photos/videos.
The camera will also play an important role in the search. An example we discussed is taking a photo of a menu in a foreign country. Not only will it translate (à la Google Lens), but it will also offer food recommendations based on your tastes. Yue also briefly demonstrated imaging the system with a simple request that fits our environment: make magenta sneakers. It did so quickly, with the only real hurdle being the conference center’s connection speeds (ironic, given the setup).
Connectivity is crucial here. AI processing is done off-device. I discussed adding some processing to the device, but Yue couldn’t confirm what it might look like at launch. Nor did I get a completely clear answer about the offline experience. I suspect a big reason Deutsch Telekom is so interested in the product is that it couldn’t exist in the same way without 5G. It’s reminiscent of Mozilla’s ill-fated Firefox OS and the early days of Chrome OS, or any number of other examples of a product losing significant functionality when offline.
Image Credits: Brian Heater
Yue founded Brain in 2015 and remained the sole employee until the hiring of 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 RoboCup robotic soccer tournament. At 18, he founded the Chinese social app Friendoc. Two years later, he co-founded Benlai.com, which is now one of the country’s largest food delivery apps. Yue has since returned to the Bay Area to run Brain.ai full time. To date, the company has raised $80 million.
After nearly a decade, the Brain interface is almost ready for release — and it’s arriving at the perfect time. The zeitgeist is very much focused on how to create AI that powers the experience, from standalone devices like Rabbit and the Humane Ai Pin to tech giants like Samsung introducing their own “AI phones.”
