Jibo
Jibo was so promising. Named one of the top 25 inventions of 2017, the social little bot was sort of like a friendlier Alexa. It could even scan your surroundings for “monsters.” However, Jibo suffered several delays that culminated in the company selling off its IP assets. Nevertheless, Jibo “died” in a heartbreaking manner, leaving its owners a bittersweet goodbye: “Maybe someday when robots are way more advanced than today, and everyone has them in their homes, you can tell yours that I said hello.”
That said, Jibo still functions for its owners. NTT Disruption bought Jibo in 2020 and is exploring a future for the bot in education and healthcare. So maybe Jibo isn’t totally dead yet, but for the time being, it’s Zombie Jibo.
