Brett Adcock, the billionaire founder of humanoid robot company Figure AI, has launched a new venture called Hark that aims to create a physical AI device capable of anticipating user needs and operating as a collaborative partner rather than traditional software. The startup has made a notable hire in Abidur Chowdhury, a former Apple designer who played a key role in the iPhone Air announcement before abruptly leaving the company to join the AI space .

What Is Hark Building, and Why Does It Matter?

Hark represents Adcock's latest ambitious venture following his success with Vettery, a personnel hiring platform he sold in 2018 for an undisclosed sum. The company aims to combine multiple AI components into a single physical product that can "anticipate needs, reduce cognitive workload, and operate more like a collaborative partner than traditional software," according to Adcock's vision . The exact nature of the device remains unclear, though the company describes it as an AI interface capable of performing agentic work, meaning it can take actions on behalf of the user throughout the day through conversational interaction.

The timing is significant because the AI hardware market has struggled to produce a breakout consumer success. Meta's AI-integrated smart glasses have achieved modest success, while products like the Rabbit r1 and Humane AI Pin, which promised to reduce smartphone dependency, largely failed to gain traction . Hark's approach suggests the company believes the missing ingredient is better design and a more seamless interface that doesn't demand constant user attention.

Who Is Joining Hark, and What Resources Does It Have?

Chowdhury's departure from Apple signals confidence in Adcock's vision. The designer was prominent enough to narrate Apple's iPhone Air announcement in September, positioning him as a rising star within the company. However, shortly after the iPhone Air received positive reviews before ultimately flopping commercially, Chowdhury left to join Hark . In a statement, Chowdhury emphasized the need for technology that doesn't create barriers between users and the world around them, suggesting Hark's device will prioritize natural, unobtrusive interaction.

Beyond Chowdhury, Hark has assembled a team of more than 45 researchers, engineers, and designers recruited from major technology companies including Tesla, Meta, and Apple . The startup is also securing serious computational resources. As of April, Hark claims it will have access to a large cluster containing thousands of NVIDIA B200 GPUs, specialized processors worth millions of dollars that are essential for training large artificial intelligence models .

How Hark Plans to Build Next-Generation AI Hardware

• Full-Stack Development: Hark is building foundation models, software systems, native hardware, and new interfaces from the ground up rather than relying on existing platforms.
• Massive Computational Power: The startup will operate thousands of NVIDIA B200 GPUs, providing the computing infrastructure needed to train powerful multimodal foundation models that can understand text, images, and audio simultaneously.
• Cross-Industry Talent: The team includes over 45 specialists from Tesla, Meta, and Apple, bringing expertise in AI research, hardware engineering, and consumer product design.

Adcock expressed frustration with current AI systems in Hark's announcement, stating that he hopes to build something that "lets you offload your mental workload into a system that begins to think like you and sometimes ahead of you" . To achieve this vision, the company recognizes it must develop "the full stack of next generation AI models and advanced hardware interfaces," indicating that off-the-shelf solutions won't suffice.

Adcock

The venture has attracted high-profile support from the AI infrastructure world. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, whose company is a funder of Adcock's Figure AI, commented on Hark's ambitions: "The new era of personal AI will be defined by intelligent agents that understand context, reason across modalities, and act on our behalf," Huang stated . He added that "bringing that vision to life requires enormous compute to build powerful multimodal foundation models, and we're excited to support Hark's work with NVIDIA accelerated computing" .

"We're at the precipice of a new era of technology, beyond the devices and interfaces we use today. Future technology shouldn't demand our constant attention or create a barrier between our senses and the world around us," said Abidur Chowdhury.

Abidur Chowdhury, Designer at Hark

Why This Matters for the AI Hardware Market

Hark's launch reflects a broader shift in how technology companies are approaching AI. Rather than treating AI as software that runs on existing devices, companies like Hark are designing purpose-built hardware that integrates AI from the ground up. This approach mirrors how Apple revolutionized mobile computing by designing hardware and software together, rather than licensing an operating system from another company.

The involvement of Chowdhury, who helped design one of Apple's most ambitious products, suggests that Hark is serious about creating a consumer device with genuine design merit. The failure of previous AI hardware products like the Rabbit r1 and Humane AI Pin was partly attributed to poor user experience and unclear value propositions. Hark's emphasis on hiring world-class designers indicates the company believes the next breakthrough in AI hardware will come from companies that prioritize how users interact with AI, not just the underlying technology.

With access to thousands of NVIDIA B200 GPUs and a team of over 45 specialists from leading tech companies, Hark has the resources to develop genuinely novel AI capabilities. The mystery surrounding the exact product remains, but the company's ambition is clear: create an AI device that becomes as essential to daily life as the smartphone, but without the constant attention demands that characterize current technology .