London startup Nothing, known for its Nothing Phone smartphones, has raised $200 million and is working on «AI-native» devices with operating systems that are «significantly different from today’s».
London startup Nothing, known for its Nothing Phone smartphones, has raised $200 million and is working on «AI-native» devices with operating systems that are «significantly different from today’s».
Nothing founder and CEO Carl Pei said that this investment increased Nothing’s valuation to $1.3 billion. This is reported by The Verge.
The company is currently focusing on artificial intelligence technologies. Pei said the company is «laying the foundation for the future» with a dedicated «AI-powered operating system» to deliver «hyper-personalized experiences.»
Previously, Nothing created Nothing OS, which, despite the name, was a special shell on top of the Android operating system for the Nothing Phone 1 smartphone. It is currently unclear whether the new operating system will be a full-fledged development of the company or will be based on Android again.
According to Carl Pei, Nothing’s «artificial intelligence platform» will run on smartphones, headphones, and smartwatches, as well as other devices such as smart glasses, electric cars, and humanoid robots.
Nothing plans to release its first AI-native devices next year. The company believes it has unique capabilities to create such gadgets.
«Having a distribution endpoint with all its contextual and user knowledge is essential to developing an OS that will help people in their daily lives. An AI-based OS that doesn’t know its users and isn’t always present can’t deliver a hyper-personalized experience», — Pei said.
He added that the next stage for Nothing is integrating artificial intelligence into its devices and rethinking them.
Nothing previously required its 450 employees to come to the company’s London office five days a week. In an email to employees, Nothing CEO Carl Pei suggested that those who can’t transition from remote work should leave the company and «find an environment where you thrive».
