Meta has announced its acquisition of Limitless, the AI startup previously known as Rewind, which developed an AI-powered pendant for recording conversations. The acquisition, confirmed by Limitless on its website, signals a strategic move by Meta to accelerate its development of AI-enabled wearables. Limitless stated it will cease hardware sales but will support existing customers for one year.
Existing Limitless customers will transition to an Unlimited Plan, eliminating subscription fees. The company also confirmed it would wind down other functionalities, including its non-pendant "Rewind" software, which previously recorded and indexed users' desktop activity.
Founded by Brett Bejcek and Dan Siroker, the co-founder and former chief executive of Optimizely, Limitless pivoted last year to focus on AI hardware. Its flagship product, the $99 Limitless pendant, was a wearable device designed to attach to clothing like a microphone or be worn as a necklace. This device entered a nascent but competitive market for AI hardware, which includes other offerings like the "Friend" AI pendant.
Limitless stated in its announcement that it aligns with Meta's overarching vision to "bring personal superintelligence to everyone," a goal that heavily involves the development of AI-enabled wearables. While Meta currently focuses on AR/AI glasses such as its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta lines, the acquisition suggests Limitless will contribute to this broader strategy, likely by bolstering Meta's existing wearable initiatives rather than introducing a new AI pendant product.
The startup also acknowledged that the escalating competition in the AI hardware market, particularly from major players like OpenAI and Meta developing their own devices, made it increasingly challenging to compete independently.
Reflecting on the journey, Limitless co-founder Dan Siroker wrote in the announcement:
"When we started Limitless five years ago, the world was very different. AI was a pipe dream to many. Hardware startups were considered unfundable, and a business that did both AI and hardware would have been considered ludicrous. But today is different. The world has changed. We’re no longer working on a weird fringe idea. We’re building a future that now seems inevitable. We’re not alone."
In a statement to TechCrunch, Meta expressed its enthusiasm for the acquisition:
"We’re excited that Limitless will be joining Meta to help accelerate our work to build AI-enabled wearables."
The tech giant confirmed that the Limitless team would integrate into the wearables organization within Meta's Reality Labs, though no further details on specific plans were disclosed.
For existing users, Limitless will provide options to export their data or delete it directly from the app. Prior to the acquisition, the startup had successfully raised over $33 million in funding from prominent investors, including a16z, First Round Capital, and NEA.
