From Futurism:
Colin Angle, the inventor of the iconic Roomba automated vacuum, is back with another robot that hangs around the house. This time it’s not a roaming vacuum cleaner, though, but a furry — and eerily lifelike, if not creepy — companion called a “Familiar.” With a name of such supernatural connotations, and with its uncanny appearance, it’s hard not to see it as a demonic mockery of an actual flesh and blood pet, superficially cute as it may be.
Angle co-founded iRobot, the company that builds the autonomous robot vacuum cleaners, in 1990. In 2024, he stepped down as CEO after a deal to sell the company to Amazon fell through. Since then, Angle cofounded Familiar Machines & Magic, which plans to start selling Familiars next year at the earliest, Angle said. Deviating from much of the AI and robotics industry, the company decided from its inception that it wouldn’t pursue humanoid robots.