Rabbit R1: LAM or SCAM?
Is Rabbit R1 truly the next gen AI assistant or just part of the AI Hype Train?
The Rabbit R1 is a handheld AI device designed to interact with users through verbal commands and perform tasks for you. It features a retro design, a small 2.8-inch screen, a scroll wheel, and an 8-megapixel camera. Priced at $199, the device aims to perform tasks such as calling Uber, ordering food, creating images with Midjourney, playing music, answering questions, and translating speech. However, it has faced significant criticism for its poor battery life, limited functionality, and connectivity issues. Even worse, the Large Action Model (LAM) they claim to have built might be a scam.
Initial Reception and Funding
When announced, the R1 was received well by the general public and many people compared it with the Humane AI Pin. They raised around $30 million on their funding round with more than 100k pre-orders. It seemed like Rabbit pioneered with LAM and people were excited about the device. And I honestly liked the idea of the R1 better than the AI Pin, although both would be better as an app on my phone or something similar.
Trouble started brewing when the product started getting into the hands of the people. The device's retro design and unique features garnered interest from tech enthusiasts but many users criticized the Rabbit R1 for its unreliable performance, inaccurate answers, poor battery life, and steep learning curve. A lot of the tech reviewers on YouTube found the product not review-worthy.
The Large Action Model (LAM) Ordeal
Rabbit Incorporation markets the Rabbit R1 as utilizing a "Large Action Model" (LAM), an advanced AI system capable of learning and executing app-based tasks on behalf of the user, inferring and modeling human actions on computer applications, performing the actions reliably and quickly. This is supposed to be a step ahead of the “Large Language Models” (LLMs) that we know of and are more powerful.
“LAM‘s modeling approach is rooted in imitation, or learning by demonstration: it observes a human using the interface and aims to reliably replicate the process, even if the interface is presented differently or slightly changed. Instead of having a black-box model uncontrollably outputting actions and adapting to the application during inference, LAM‘s "recipe" is more observable.” - Rabbit Inc.
However, this term appears more of a marketing gimmick than a genuine technological innovation. The LAM is described as a system that learns how an app works to navigate it on the user's behalf, but in practice, it functions more like a basic voice assistant with limited capabilities. Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman downloaded Rabbit’s launcher APK onto a Google Pixel 6A and ran the whole thing on an Android.
The application looks like an LLM wrapper that uses Playwright to automate browser-based tasks (Rabbit founder Jesse Lyu has confirmed that they use Playwright but has not explained how). In other words, it uses ChatGPT and Perplexity AI with hardcoded scripts. This causes a lot of data privacy concerns and can have inaccurate location tracking. This also makes it inconsistent in performing the tasks it promises to do extremely well; so when any of the apps change their UI ever-so-slightly, which is a lot, the r1 will definitely break.
And honestly, creating an AI system to perform tasks on a website or app isn't that hard. For example, you can feed an LLM the HTML of a website and make it interactive (I have done a barebones version of this with a Chrome chatbot extension) although it might be real slow and have many data privacy concerns.
Anyways that seems like the least of their problems…
Coffeezilla's Investigation
Coffeezilla, a YouTuber known for investigating scams, has alleged that Rabbit Incorporation is built on hype. The company was previously named Cyber Manufacturing Co and raised $6 million for an NFT project called GAMA, which promised a carbon-negative cryptocurrency but failed to deliver. He claims that the funds raised for GAMA may have been used to develop Rabbit R1 and investors in GAMA have not been refunded. Even more, he highlighted discrepancies in the company's financials and the overhyped nature of the Rabbit R1.
Now Rabbit Incorporation denies the allegations, stating that the GAMA project was open-sourced and given back to the community. They claim there is no way to refund NFTs unless the owner agrees to burn them (which makes no sense unless these NFTs are worthless). The company asserts that the funds raised for GAMA were used solely for that project and that the project was not abandoned.
Coffezilla has also claimed to have seen the source for the rabbit os and echoed the speculations of others. He has also spoken to someone from the company who states that the “LAM” is nothing more than a marketing term.
Discussions on platforms like Reddit reflect a divided opinion, with some users defending the potential of the Rabbit R1 and others echoing the scam allegations and expressing disappointment with the product's performance. The YouTube community mainly dislikes the sloppy product and the allegations of misusing funds raised for the GAMA project could have legal implications if proven true. Investors in GAMA may seek legal recourse if they believe they were defrauded.
The Rabbit R1, while an intriguing concept, appears to be, at the very least, an unfinished product with significant limitations. "Large Action Model" (LAM) seems more of a marketing term than a genuine technological advancement. The device's performance issues, coupled with the controversies surrounding its parent company, raise serious questions about its viability and the integrity of its founders.
One key takeaway from this should be that consumers should be cautious about investing in products based on future promises and evaluate them based on current functionality.
That is it from me! I hope this exploration was helpful in some way! What are your thoughts on the Rabbit r1? What are some similar AI trends you noticed?
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