Meta acquires AI device startup Limitless

Meta has acquired Limitless, an AI startup formerly known as Rewind, the company announced Friday on its website. The company, which has created an AI necklace that records your conversations, says it will no longer sell its devices and will maintain support for its existing customers for a year.

Customers will no longer have to pay a subscription and will be moved to the unlimited plan for the time being. Other functions will be discontinued, including its unsuspended “Rewind” software, which records users’ desktop activity and turns it into a searchable history.

The startup company he founded Brett Bujek and dan seroker, The co-founder and former CEO of Optimizely pivoted to become an AI hardware maker last year, introducing the Limitless Necklace for $99. The wearable device can be attached to your shirt like a wireless microphone or worn like a necklace. The device is one of several AI devices on the market, including another (less well-received) AI pendant known as the Buddy.

According to Limitless’ announcement, the company shares Meta’s vision of “bringing superpersonal intelligence to everyone,” which includes building AI-enabled wearables. (Meta is currently focused on AR/AI glasses, such as the Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta, AI glasses built into the lenses, and the Meta Ray-Ban Display.) Limitless has said it will help realize that vision — which likely means supporting Meta’s existing products, not helping Meta add an AI necklace to its lineup.

The company hinted that increased competition in the market has made it difficult for it to compete, especially since big players like OpenAI and Meta are developing their own devices as well.

“When we started Limitless five years ago, the world was very different,” Siroker wrote in the announcement. “AI was a pipe dream for many. Hardware startups were considered unbankable, and businesses based on AI and hardware were considered ridiculous. But today is different. The world has changed. We are no longer working on a weird fringe idea. We are building a future that now seems inevitable. We are not alone.”

Meta was asked to comment on the acquisition, but no comment was provided by press time.

The company said that Limitless will offer its customers a way to export their data, or users can choose to delete their data from within the application.