This AI Wearable From Ex-Apple Engineers Looks Like an iPod Shuffle

Former Apple Vision Pro engineers Chris Nolet and Ryan Burgoyne have launched a new AI hardware device called 'Button' through startup accelerator Y Combinator. Priced at $179 for pre-order with shipping in December, the gadget is a deliberate homage to the iPod Shuffle in its brushed aluminum design. Its core function is simple: press the physical button to activate a built-in generative AI chatbot that listens, answers questions, and executes commands via its speaker or a Bluetooth connection to earbuds or smart glasses. The founders position it as a direct, minimalist alternative to more complex and failed wearables like the Humane Ai Pin.

Key differentiators are privacy and speed. Unlike always-listening devices, Button only records when the button is pressed, a feature born from Nolet's discomfort with covert recording. It also promises near-instantaneous responses, answering queries within a second in demos, and can be interrupted immediately with another button press. While marketed as a wearable, it can also be kept in a pocket or bag. The founders applied their 'Apple-esque' design expertise, aiming to create fashionable, useful hardware specifically for the generative AI era, arguing it's easier to build new hardware for existing AI software than to create entire ecosystems from scratch.