AI shifts gears into hardware

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Hello reader,

Consumer hardware could be the next big leap in AI. OpenAI is even working with legendary Apple designer Jony Ive to design the first must-own AI device.

But what if that device already exists, and you sat in one today?

That’s the provocation at the heart of today’s featured story, drawn from an episode of Xiaojun Podcast featuring Yin Qi, chairman of Chinese AI firm StepFun. Yin argues that the real future of AI isn’t another chatbot or app, but the car.

It’s a compelling thesis, as cars solve a problem many AI startups would rather ignore: defensibility. With frontier models expensive to train and app-layer products tough to differentiate, cars offer a closed loop between intelligence and action. Data in, decisions out, real-world feedback back in.

That loop is hard to replicate with a chatbot sitting in a browser tab.

Read the rest of the piece for why Yin believes the AI stack is moving off the screen and into physical machines.

Peter Cowan, engagement editor

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Top Story

Will cars drive the future of AI? This Chinese company thinks so

This podcast summary goes deep on why app-layer AI startups struggle to build data flywheels – and why cars offer something different.

Interestingly, Yin also argues that chatbots limit the power of AI by using text layouts that look like messaging apps. In his view, that format is a transitional demo, and real AI products will need purpose-built hardware designed around the model, not the other way around.

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