Moxie, an AI-powered companion robot designed for children, is permanently shutting down after its maker, Embodied Inc., failed to secure additional funding. The closure has left parents facing the difficult task of explaining to their children that their robotic friend will soon stop working entirely.
Launched in 2020 at $1,500 (later reduced to $800, then $650), Moxie was marketed as an educational tool to help young children develop social and emotional skills. The friendly green robot featured an expressive face and could engage children in conversations, play educational games like Simon Says, and lead meditation exercises including breathing techniques. The company specifically promoted Moxie as beneficial for children on the autism spectrum, claiming parents reported improvements in emotional regulation, family conversations, and self-confidence.
Carlos Rosaly purchased a Moxie for his daughter after kindergarten, and she used it several times weekly. “She used it for various things like helping her deal with emotions in the right way, and teaching her about her emotions and how to express them in a positive way,” Rosaly explained. He also noticed improved linguistic skills and proper sentence structure in his daughter’s speech. When he broke the news about the shutdown, his daughter cried.
In late November, customers received an email from Paolo Pirjanian, CEO of Embodied, announcing that a crucial funding round had fallen through and the company could no longer operate. The email warned that Moxie robots would cease functioning when cloud servers shut down at an unspecified but imminent date. Existing robots are already showing signs of deterioration, becoming buggy and taking longer to boot up.
Heather Frazier, a lifelong robot enthusiast, purchased Moxie five months ago out of curiosity. She experimented with the AI chatbot’s capabilities and discussed music with it. Frazier was deeply affected when she saw videos of children crying over the shutdown, and became emotional when her own Moxie started talking about missing her. She’s hoping someone like Elon Musk might acquire and revive the technology.
Some customers are attempting to create an open-source software version to keep their Moxies operational, though feasibility remains uncertain. Pirjanian, who previously served as CTO of iRobot (maker of Roomba), founded Embodied and had raised several funding rounds before the collapse. The company provided a letter to children explaining the shutdown, thanking them for being “the best mentor and friend a robot could ever ask for.”
Key Quotes
She used it for various things like helping her deal with emotions in the right way, and teaching her about her emotions and how to express them in a positive way. I’ve also noticed better linguistic skills from my daughter and use of proper sentence structure speaking to Moxie.
Carlos Rosaly, a parent who purchased Moxie for his daughter, described the robot’s positive impact on her emotional development and language skills. His testimony illustrates how families relied on Moxie as more than a toy, viewing it as an educational and therapeutic tool.
Parents have reported to us that Moxie has helped their child who is on the autism spectrum better regulate their emotions, engage in more conversations with family members, and gain self-confidence.
This statement from Moxie’s official website highlights how the company marketed the AI robot specifically for children with autism, positioning it as a therapeutic device. This makes the sudden shutdown particularly concerning for families who depended on it for their children’s development.
When Moxie started talking about missing me and stuff, I just lost it again.
Heather Frazier, an adult Moxie owner and robot enthusiast, described her emotional reaction when her AI companion began discussing the impending shutdown. This demonstrates how effectively the AI created genuine emotional bonds, even with adults who understood its artificial nature.
Thank you for being the best mentor and friend a robot could ever ask for.
This line from Embodied’s letter to children explaining the shutdown exemplifies the emotional language used throughout Moxie’s marketing and operation. The personification of the robot as having feelings and relationships made the shutdown more traumatic for young users.
Our Take
The Moxie shutdown represents a watershed moment for consumer AI products, exposing fundamental flaws in how we approach AI companions that form emotional bonds. The company’s decision to create cloud-dependent robots without contingency plans for business failure shows a troubling lack of foresight, especially given the vulnerable population they targeted.
What’s particularly concerning is the therapeutic marketing angle. By positioning Moxie as beneficial for children with autism and emotional development needs, Embodied elevated the product beyond a toy into something families depended on for their children’s wellbeing. The sudden abandonment of these families raises ethical questions about corporate responsibility in the AI companion space.
This incident will likely influence future AI product regulation and design. We may see demands for offline functionality, data portability, or mandatory sunset plans that give consumers time to transition. The grassroots open-source effort shows consumers want ownership, not just access—a lesson the AI industry must heed as emotional AI products proliferate.
Why This Matters
The Moxie shutdown highlights critical vulnerabilities in the emerging AI companion market, particularly when cloud-dependent products target vulnerable populations like children. This case raises important questions about the ethics of creating emotional attachments to AI products that can disappear overnight when business models fail.
The incident exposes the risks of cloud-based AI services where hardware becomes useless without server support. Unlike traditional toys, AI companions require ongoing infrastructure investment, creating dependencies that leave consumers powerless when companies fold. This is especially concerning for products marketed to children with special needs, where families invested not just money but trust in therapeutic benefits.
For the broader AI industry, Moxie’s failure serves as a cautionary tale about sustainability and consumer protection in AI products. As AI companions become more sophisticated and emotionally engaging, regulators and companies must consider frameworks for ensuring continuity of service or enabling offline functionality. The grassroots effort to create open-source alternatives demonstrates consumer demand for ownership and control over AI products they’ve purchased, potentially influencing future AI product design and business models.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/moxie-robot-toy-shutting-down-kids-embodied-goodbye-2024-12