Roomba creator is back with a furry robot companion

Colin Angle, the robotics pioneer who co-founded iRobot in 1990 and launched the first Roomba in 2002, has unveiled a four-legged AI pet from his new venture called Familiar Machines & Magic.

The pet, also called Familiar, is a furry, bulldog-sized robot that does cute stretches like dogs and cats, and allows people to pet, hug, and take it for walks.

It is designed to provide emotional companionship without the burdens of traditional pet ownership. Angle said it would make animal-like sounds but not talk.

While the release date and cost of the AI pet are not revealed, the AI startup is targeting retirees and those seeking mental health support.

AI pets are not new
Sony released a plastic robotic dog called Aibo in the late 1990s and rebooted it in 2018.

However, Familiar leverages recent generative AI breakthroughs to understand speech and adapt to a user’s habits—a feat Angle claims was impossible just six months ago.