Jaden Schaefer

A lot of people are worried about privacy concerns.

You know, it's a crazy product.

So I think right now there's at least two more companies, including Sandbar and another that's led by the Pebble founder, Eric, which if anyone remembers Pebble, this was like the biggest Kickstarter of all time.

Back in the day, I think they raised like $10 million for a smartwatch.

This is before the Apple Watch came out.

Very cool, novel idea.

And they are developing an AI-powered ring.

So there's actually two companies.

So the Pebble founder, Eric, and then also the company called Sandbar, both creating these AI-powered rings that are going to come out this year, which essentially lets users stop talking to your phone and actually talk to your quote-unquote hand, as it were.

So

Right now, there's a lot of different shapes, whether those are necklaces or rings or glasses.

But I think underlying all of this is basically the same thing.

And that is that audio is being positioned as the next dominant interface, right?

We're so used to using our phones.

We're so used to typing things out.

But now every environment from your living room to your car,

to of course your body, all of those are turning into a control surface.

So you can get, you know, smart speakers, your car can talk to you, your ring, your necklace, like everywhere you go, your glasses.

So right now, I think this is why OpenAI is putting a massive focus on an upcoming audio model.

It's expected early this year, so 2026, and it's reportedly designed to sound more human, handle interruptions like a real conversation partner, and even speak over you mid-sentence, which is kind of interesting slash annoying.