Carl Pei teases Nothing’s first AI-native product; says it 'couldn't have been an app'

Nothing will start shipping its first AI-native product in December, chief executive Carl Pei said on Wednesday, pitching it as a productivity tool while offering few details about what it will do.

“Our first AI-native product ships next month. It’s a tool, but one built with the personality and care that have come to define a Nothing product. It has no new screen, and it couldn’t have been an app,” Pei wrote in a post on X.

Pei did not disclose the product’s functions, price or exact shipping date.


Pei argued that AI’s immediate opportunity lies in helping people get work done, as technology companies search for a defining consumer device through pendants, pins, glasses and companions.

“Product-market fit for AI will come in productivity first, in the tools people rely on to get real things done,” he wrote.

His argument centres on information that AI models miss. Useful ideas and remarks from everyday conversations often go unrecorded, he said. Reaching for a phone to save them can interrupt the moment, while leaving them unrecorded risks losing them altogether.

Those references suggest the product could help users capture conversations or take notes. Nothing has not confirmed either function.

AI note-takers already offer some of those capabilities. Plaud’s NotePin records conversations and uses AI to generate transcripts, summaries and action points. Users can wear it as a necklace, pin, clip or wristband. Omi, another wearable, turns conversations into searchable records, summaries, tasks and reminders.

Other products focus on companionship. Friend is an AI pendant designed to listen to conversations and interact with its wearer. An updated version introduced in July added a built-in speaker, allowing it to respond aloud.

Larger technology companies are exploring glasses and headsets. Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta glasses combine cameras, microphones and speakers with its AI assistant. At its September 2026 Connect event, the company expanded its glasses lineup and announced plans to bring its Muse personal AI agent to the devices.

Google and Samsung are pursuing AI hardware through Android XR, a platform for headsets and glasses. Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset, launched in October 2025, integrates Google’s Gemini AI and supports interactions through voice, vision and gestures.

The category has also suffered setbacks. Humane shut down the AI Pin’s cloud services in February 2025 after the wearable struggled to attract buyers. HP agreed that month to acquire key Humane assets, including its AI platform, intellectual property and technical talent, for $116 million.

OpenAI is preparing its own entry with former Apple design chief Jony Ive, whose hardware startup io it acquired for $6.5 billion in 2025.

Bloomberg reported in July that OpenAI’s first hardware product was being developed as a portable, screen-free smart speaker that would act as an AI companion in the home. According to the report, it would use a camera and sensors to understand its surroundings and could answer questions, play media, respond to messages and control smart home appliances.