Hardware maker Rabbit has formed a partnership with ElevenLabs, a technology company specializing in voice recognition and interaction, in order to enhance its new line of devices. The first set of Rabbit r1 devices is set to ship next month, following a highly successful debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year.
The r1 will come equipped with ElevenLabs’ cutting-edge technology, allowing users to utilize voice commands and receive responses from the device’s integrated AI technology. At launch, this feature will be available exclusively in English with one voice option, but ElevenLabs assures that its advanced low latency models will create a more natural and human-like interaction for users.
“We are working closely with Rabbit to bring the future of human-device interaction to fruition. Our collaboration aims to make the r1 a truly dynamic co-pilot,” stated ElevenLabs’ CEO Mati Staniszewski in a prepared statement.
Rabbit announced in January that it will also utilize Perplexity AI’s solutions to answer users’ inquiries on the device. Additionally, the company also revealed that its first batch of $199 r1 devices will be shipped from the factory by March 31st and arrive in users’ hands within a few weeks. Upon arrival, users will be able to interact with chatbots, obtain answers from Perplexity, utilize two-way translations, order transportation and food, and listen to music through the device, all right out of the box.
During a StrictlyVC event earlier this month, Rabbit’s CEO Jesse Lyu revealed that the company has already received nearly 100,000 orders for its devices. This impressive number serves as a testament to Rabbit’s success and growth in the market.
In a move towards achieving unicorn status, ElevenLabs recently secured $80 million in Series B funding from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and entrepreneur Daniel Gross. The company has primarily focused on providing voice cloning services for audiobooks, movie and TV show dubbing, advertising, and video game characters. Most recently, Indian audio platform PocketFM announced a partnership with ElevenLabs to allow creators to convert their written content into audio series.
However, ElevenLabs has faced criticism for its technology, with users attempting to deceive bank authentication systems, 4chan users mimicking celebrities, and journalists demonstrating how easy it is to create problematic content using their platform. In response, the startup has developed a tool to identify speech generated by its technology and is currently working on a tool to detect and distribute synthesized audio to third parties.
