Nothing Says Its First AI-Native Product Will Ship in December

"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. He also called it a productivity tool.

Pei set the product apart from the wave of AI gadgets that hardware start-ups and AI labs have been building over the past two years. "The whole industry is hunting for its iPhone moment: the pendant, the pin, the glasses, the companion, some magical consumer device that makes AI part of everyone's life," he wrote. "I admire the boldness, but I read this moment differently."

That sets a high bar. Dedicated AI devices have struggled so far. Humane's AI Pin was discontinued after HP bought the company's assets in 2025, and OpenAI, which bought Jony Ive's hardware start-up io that year, has yet to show what it is building.

The December launch delivers on a timetable Nothing set more than a year ago. In September 2025 the company raised $200 million in a Series C round at a $1.3 billion valuation, and Pei said then that Nothing would launch some of its first AI-native devices in 2026. Coverage at the time said they would not be conventional smartphones.

Pei has teased an AI-first device for some time. Nothing has also said it plans to release AI-linked smart glasses and earbuds with AI features, TechCrunch reported. Pei's description of a product with no new screen, which is also not an app, suggests something other than those wearables, and his post appeared to play down any link to them.

Nothing makes the Nothing Phone and CMF-branded devices and is known for its transparent hardware designs. With no firm date announced, the company has a few weeks left to reveal the product if it is to ship before the end of December.