Hardware manufacturer Rabbit has partnered with ElevenLabs to implement voice command capabilities on its devices. The first set of Rabbit r1 devices is scheduled to ship next month after generating significant buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year.
The Rabbit r1 will come equipped with ElevenLabs’ technology, allowing users to interact via voice commands and receive responses from the pocket AI device. Initially, this feature will only be available in English with a single voice option. ElevenLabs claims that their low latency models will enhance human-like interactions.
ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski stated, “We are collaborating with Rabbit to advance human-device interaction. Our goal is to make the r1 a truly dynamic co-pilot.”
In a January announcement, Rabbit revealed plans to utilize Perplexity AI’s solutions to address user queries on the device.
Recently, Rabbit confirmed that the first batch of $199 r1 devices will leave the factory by March 31 and reach customers within a few weeks. Users will be able to engage with chatbots, access answers from Perplexity, utilize bi-directional translation, order rides and food, and listen to music through the device out of the box.
CEO Jesse Lyu disclosed at a StrictlyVC event that Rabbit is nearing 100,000 device orders.
ElevenLabs secured $80 million in Series B funding earlier this year from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and entrepreneur Daniel Gross to achieve unicorn status. The company specializes in voice cloning services for audiobooks, movie dubbing, ads, and video game characters. PocketFM, an Indian audio platform that raised $103 million from Lightspeed, is using ElevenLabs’ services to enable creators to convert writings into audio series.
However, ElevenLabs has faced criticism for instances of users attempting to deceive a bank’s authentication system, 4chan users impersonating celebrities, and the ease of creating problematic content through voice cloning. The startup introduced a tool to detect speech generated by its platform and is developing a tool to identify synthesized audio and share it with third parties.
