Glenn Kaonang · · 5 min readThe bloatware you might want to keep
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In focus
- Acer laptops to ship with an AI butler, courtesy of US startup IrisGo
- A closer look at Singapore’s strategy to boost national AI research
- Memory chip manufacturer Micron doubles down on Singapore, promises 1,600 jobs
Hello reader,
Remember when your laptop came preloaded with bloatware you’d immediately uninstall? Yes, those toolbars, trial antivirus software, and all other “helpful” utilities that actually slowed things down.
Makers are still shipping PCs with them, unfortunately. Yet, some of these companies are betting that the AI era will be different: that this time, you’ll actually want at least some of what they’ve preloaded on your machine.
Acer is testing this theory. The Taiwanese firm has partnered with IrisGo, a US startup building a desktop “AI butler,” which is about to be pre-installed on Acer devices worldwide.
We first profiled IrisGo last year. Co-founded by former Siri engineer Jeffrey Lai, the company recently closed a US$2.8 million seed round led by Andrew Ng’s AI Fund.
In today’s top story, I spoke to Lai about his plans for IrisGo. He also said he’s not concerned that IrisGo-equipped machines will come with built-in Microsoft Copilot. The keyphrase here is “automation for everything else” because Lai believes IrisGo is better than Copilot for anything outside the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
I also did a quick look at Singapore’s recent US$786 million investment in public AI research and whether that can really move the needle for the city-state’s AI efforts.
Speaking of Singapore, US memory chip manufacturer Micron has also doubled down on its production facility in the country with a new US$24 billion investment.
Glenn Kaonang, journalist
Top Story
AI butler IrisGo nets $2.8m, eyes series A after CES buzz
IrisGo’s co-founding team (from left): Jeffrey Lai (CEO), Arnold Yip (CTO), Yale Lee (CSO), and Lman Chu / Photo credit: IrisGo
The company demoed its desktop AI butler at CES in Las Vegas earlier this month, showcasing features such as screen recording, as well as mouse and keyboard control. Lai says the demo has brought in more potential OEM partners and attracted new investors, adding that he’s already considering a potential series A round.
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