Rabbit R1 AI box revealed to just be an Android app

Enlarge / The Rabbit R1. (credit: Rabbit Inc)

If you haven’t heard of the Rabbit R1, this is yet another “AI box” that is trying to replace your smartphone with a voice command device that runs zero apps. Just like the Humane AI Pin, this thing recently launched and seems to be dead on arrival as a completely non-viable device that doesn’t solve any real problems, has terrible battery life, and is missing big chunks of core functionality. Before the device fades into obscurity, though, Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman looked at the software and found the “smartphone replacement” device just runs a smartphone OS. It’s Android—both an Android OS and Android app, just in a very limited $200 box.

OK, technically, we can’t call it “Android” since that’s a Google trademark that you only get access to after licensing Google Play. It runs AOSP (the Android Open Source Project codebase), which is the open source bits of Android without any proprietary Google code. The interface—which is mostly just a clock, settings screen, and voice input—is also just an Android app. Being a normal Android app means you can install it on an Android phone, and Rahman was able to get the Rabbit R1 software running on a Pixel 6. He even got the AI assistant to answer questions on the phone.

Rabbit Inc. does not sound happy about Rahman’s discovery. The company posted on X that it is “aware there are some unofficial rabbit OS app/website emulators out there” and that since it does not want to support “third-party clients,” a “local bootleg APK without the proper OS and Cloud endpoints won’t be able to access our service.” The company describes its device as a “very bespoke AOSP and lower level firmware modifications,” but that’s a statement that would be true for many phones. In another statement to Rahman, the company threatens that “We reserve all rights for any malicious and illegal cyber security activities towards our services.”