The Exchanges

Q Tell, Imran, tell me about that idea that you had in mind. What did, what, what were you thinking?

A Yeah, so, Always was fascinated with AI, and when I was in high school, I had a job at a, um, computer shop where I used to be able to get books and magazines and read them, right? And, um, I used to read AI journals when I was in high school and be, just be fascinated by that stuff. And, um, a lot of it theoretically was, was something that was moving into a place of practice around the, that timeframe, 2017 or so, and sparked a lot of inspiration to say, hey, I, I actually really want to build a new kind of computer. Uh, something that is really going to help humanize the, the ability to be able to interact with AI. And, and around 2017, I was able to convince Bethany that if we started now, that we would be where we needed to be by the time we would be able to actually practice this stuff, which is kind of like right now.

AI assessment note: “I actually really want to build a new kind of computer.”

Q my, my Apple Watch, my, My iPhone, like, you're, you're, you're in this thing. You had spent so much of your career working on screens, right? Things that we can look at. And so, were you, I mean, already back in 2017, were you sort of saying a version of this to yourself, which is, can I make something that doesn't require a screen? Were you literally thinking that granular?

A Yeah, that's, that's exactly right. Like, how, how do you actually elevate compute? Because, you know, I think smartphones are great. They're really, really great at, at what they can do now, but they're very limited in terms of how much more they can do. And if you think about if they're able to leverage some of these multimodal inputs that use text and voice and sound and image and eventually video, You need a new kind of computer that really allows for you to take advantage of that kind of processing, and at that point, you don't need to use screens the same way. You need screens because screens confirm everything that you're doing, whether you're typing in something properly, or whether you've tapped the right button, but if you can actually Take that away. Take the burden of that away. You don't need a screen other than something for a lightweight confirmation, which is kind of the underpinnings of what we've built.

AI assessment note: “Yeah, that's, that's exactly right. Like, how, how do you actually elevate compute?”

Q then it has a projector that it can project, like, text messages or other things on your hand, so it's got all of the, more or less the things that your phone has, right, but it's designed to answer Questions. Walk me through what, what was the hardest, what's the hardest hurdle that you had to kind of overcome to, to pack all that in such a small little package?

A Yeah, you know, um, I'd say the hardest part was really ensuring that everything was going to be something we could fit in, so we call that miniaturization, making all the components small enough so that they sit there, and then making sure that they work well together, like the laser display has its own challenges, and then the wireless power that allows you to Not have the problems of a wearable that when you take it off, it's because you, the battery's dead and you can no longer use it. This allows you to keep going. Even that alone is, has its own challenges. But when you bring them all together, that, um, interference, electrical interference that happens, the management of the heat and the weight, all of the packaging aspects and the runtime, uh, issues, bringing it all together was the biggest challenge.

AI assessment note: “the hardest part was really ensuring that everything was going to be something we could fit”

Q mean, I, I, I see incredible value in being able, being able to store memories. Um, I guess part of me is just worried about the security side of that, but we already do store a lot of our memories like Google Cloud. So that version of that already exists, right? So I don't think it's like totally outrageous to be slightly concerned about this, about securing this data, right?

A Yeah, you know, I think, um, you should be concerned, and I wish more people were concerned, and it's something that we care about a lot. We understand how this data has been used in the past. We believe that everything that you create or collect and store using your AI pin belongs to you, and only you, and is, is something that only you should know about. We don't have a way to access your data, We don't use it in training or anything else. It's literally yours, and anytime you use it to access a memory, it's actually doing so in your own protected space. It's a foundational thing for us to protect people's data and to make sure that it's not being used by anyone but you.

AI assessment note: “We don't have a way to access your data, We don't use it in training”

Q Um, but you know what I mean? Like, you, it's almost impossible to get to the day without a smartphone in, in most of the world today.

A Yeah, absolutely. I think people, post-COVID, the, the, The QR code is reigning supreme right now, and it, I think when you have a vision-based computer like ours, you can play in that world. Um, it works really well. But, you know, what we, what we have here is, again, a computer that really allows you to have those kinds of interactions without you really being the, the driver of all that. You're just the person that takes the benefit from it. If you think about rideshare services, um, You know, you can just say, hey, I need a car, and your AI understands, as Bethany was saying, where you need to be, and you, you could say, I need to get there quickly, versus I need to get there in the most cost-efficient way, and you know, the, the, the device, and the OS, and the AI experience will figure that out for you, and so we do see there being a tremendous benefit for having these AI-first interactions for these things that we do today, because They can help you out. You know, it just feels more like an extension of you.

AI assessment note: “when you have a vision-based computer like ours, you can play in that world.”

Q a fast pace that it's hard for the people who have created this technology to even understand how quickly it's growing and how powerful it's becoming. And I wonder whether, like, I'm not smart enough to articulate why that scares me, but I can tell you that part of it does scare me. And I wonder, you guys are a lot smarter than me, does any of that scare you?

A Yeah, you know, this, this is an accelerated pace unlike anything we've ever seen before. You take, you take compute, and you, you couple it to the internet, and you add in the processing capability, I think what really needs to happen is there needs to be a good balance of making sure that bad things don't happen, and there needs to be an openness to allow for good things to happen. You need a way to, to make sure that these regulations keep people safe, but then don't stifle innovation, and the best way to do that is to involve, um, the people that are really intimate in understanding how to do that, Um, and we have, we have been involved in a few conversations about, um, shaping regulations around this, which we really appreciate, and we want to be able to be involved in a lot more, but you really do need that, uh, right now. This is not only something that's important on a regional or national level, it's also important on a global level.

AI assessment note: “I think what really needs to happen is there needs to be a good balance”