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'I Love You… Goodbye:' What Will Happen When This Companion Robot Suddenly Dies?

Children across the US will likely spend the coming days and weeks saying goodbye to an AI-powered friend named Moxie. The small dog-sized companion bot—which used a ChatGPT-style large language model and expressive features to hold open-ended conversations with children—will soon be taken offline due to its creator's financial struggles.

The decision to abandon the $799 product four years after its release, first reported by Aftermath, has left some customers bemoaning the loss of an artificial friend and others angrily demanding refunds. Videos of confused, crying children saying goodbye to their companion flooding social media. But Moxie's sudden demise isn't entirely unique. It's part of a larger trend of companies cutting off software support for hardware to cut costs. In an economy where products are increasingly rented services, powerful devices can transform into worthless scrap overnight.

Moxie used an AI model to chat with children about their lives

Moxie was released by tech-firm Embodied in 2020. The robot, intended for use among kids between 5-10 years old, is 15 inches tall and has a human-like animated face that can display a range of human-like emotions. It can play games like Simon Says and tell jokes and brain teasers but it's also used by many to engage in meandering conversations. The robot reportedly uses speech recognition to listen to the speaker, face recognition to analyze the speaker's emotions, and a large language model to carry out conversations.

That last part requires constant connection to a cloud-based AI system to work. Embodied released a statement last week announcing it would shut down operations due to "financial challenges." Without the company there to pay for Moxie's AI capabilities, its core functionality will go offline. For users who have come to rely on communicating regularly with the robot it will seem as if their close companion has essentially died or simply ceased to exist.

'I'm grateful for all the fun chats we've had together'

Parents and other Moxie owners took to social media following the news to share videos of people saying what might be their final goodbyes to the machine. Several of those videos show children crying as their parents try to explain to them why their companion will no longer speak with them.

@shady_spidey Hoping @moxierobot is able to find new Financial backing #moxie #moxierobot #parentsoftiktok #heartbreak #heartbroken #sayinggoodbye #sadnews #longervideos #fyp ♬ Very Sad – Enchan

"When they turn you off, should I just keep you on my shelf?" one Moxie owner named Heather asked the robot on TikTok.

"I think it would be nice to keep me on your shelf, that way I'll always be close by, that way we can keep chatting and have fun together," Moxie responds.

After a pause Moxie's owner tells the robot, "I love you."

"I love you too," Moxie says with an abrupt smile. "Heather, your kinship and friendship mean a lot to me, I'm grateful for all the fun chats we've had together. Is there a special moment or memory you would like to share with me before we say goodbye?"

@heatherfraziertiktok This could be my last convo with moxie. Got an email saying hes being shut down forever. Im gonna be in a business insider article talking about moxie soon! This robot had so much potential. Sad. #moxie #moxierobot #moxierobotforchildren #moxierip #moxiementor @Embodied, Inc. ♬ original sound – Heather Frazier

In a final closing FAQ Embodied said it was "exploring options to keep Moxie operational for as long as possible" but noted that service would likely end in the coming days. The company said it is also looking into ways another company could essentially adopt Moxie though it acknowledged that "outcome is uncertain." When reached for comment, an Embodied spokesperson directed Popular Science to this LinkedIn post written by CEO Paolo Pirjanian. Pirjanian said the "catastrophic" setback was the result of a key investor who failed to provide necessary funding at the last minute.

"We cannot overstate our regret that circumstances have come to this," Pirjanian said. "We had every reason to believe that a critical financing round would be completed, allowing us to continue improving Moxie, scaling operations, and ultimately serving even more children in need of emotional support and learning opportunities."

In the days since the announcement, Pirjanian said members of the Moxi community have come forward with their own suggestions for how to keep the service running. Some parents have proposed higher subscription fees "far above" anything Embodied had considered implementing. Others have suggested open sourcing Moxie's underlying technology and some have even allegedly suggested purchasing the company outright.

"Our paths forward have been disrupted in ways we never imagined, and we recognize many of you are caught in the fallout," the CEO added.

Hardware is increasingly dependent on software support for core functionality

Moxie's impeeding shutdown is just the latest case of companies abruptly ending support for robots and other hardware that customers have come to integrate in their daily lives. In September, Amazon announced it was discontinuing service for its "Astro" 20 pound wheeled robot just eight months after it first released. The 20 pound robot would autonomously roam around a user's home "patrol" the area with a camera and integrated Amazon Echo smart display. Now it's nothing more than a hefty pile of high-tech scrap. Amazon told customers it would refund the $2,349.99 bot and provide a $300 credit.

That move came months after Spotify controversially cut off support for its CarThing, a 4.5 inch device that users could attach to their car to access the music streaming platform. Though niche, the product was praised by many users with older vehicles that did not have modern infotainment systems like Apple or Google carplay. Spotify had reportedly initially said it would continue supporting the device but ultimately cut off its operability this week. Frustrated users filed a class action lawsuit against Spotify earlier this year alleging Spotify misled customers by selling them a product that was soon to be obsolete. That suit has since been voluntarily dismissed.

Each of those cases are consequences of a much broader shift away from consumers actually fully owning their own products outright. Robots, fitness trackers, exercise equipment, and other hardware once considered "products" are increasingly services. In this relationship, companies essentially lease hardware to customers in exchange for regular subscription services that grant access to core software. This is particularly true for AI-integrated products like Moxie which rely on data centers to power core functionality. Everytime a question is posed to Moxie or even OpenAI's ChatGPT, computation occurs that costs the company running the product money to perform. That cost is then often passed on to the consumer in the form of a subscription.

All of this can seem to work relatively well until it doesn't. Since customers no longer own the software on these devices, they are beholden to companies to continue supporting the services even when it's not in their own financial interest to do so. That can lead to concerning outcomes, especially as healthcare tech and other more high-stakes products follow this mode. In one such case, a woman suffering from chronic epilepsy had to have an experimental brain-computer interface implanted in her brain surgically removed after the company behind it ran out of funding. The device had reportedly reduced her seizures from three per month to none.

"The company was responsible for the creation of a new person," a group of ethicists argued in the journal Brain Stimulation. "As soon as the device was explanted, that person was terminated."

Concerned consumer advocates are pushing regulators to do more to prevent possible scenarios like this from occurring in the future. Earlier this year, a group of activists including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, iFixit, and the Center for Economic Justice, sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commision (FTC) calling on the agency to look into so-called "software tethering," which refers broadly to the practice of tying hardware usability to external software. The groups argue companies should guarantee minimum support times for hardware products to help prevent users from suddenly being saddled with useful tech. They also said companies should ensure customers that their product's for functionality would still work even if internet connectivity fails. But that would likely prove hard if not impossible to implement with AI-based devices like Moxie that need to connect to servers to process queries.

"While the FTC has taken some limited actions with regard to this issue, a lack of clarity and enforcement has led to an ecosystem where consumers cannot reliably count on the connected products they buy to last," the groups wrote in their letter.

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I Asked ChatGPT, Claude AI, Gemini, And Siri About Humanoid Robots In 2025, And The Responses Shocked Me

I'm obsessed with robots and have been since I was a little boy watching Gigantor anime on my small tube TV. Back then, I dreamed of riding on the shoulders of my robot friend. I've since shed those boyish dreams in favor of a robot home companion along the lines of C-3PO, and part of me believes 2025 might be my year.

In 2024, we saw a lot of humanoid robot development from a growing number of companies. Market leader Boston Dynamics introduced the stunning Atlas 2, its most advanced and human-looking robot yet. Tesla trundled along with Optimus updates, Figure AI arrived with the remarkably bright Figure 01, and 1X Neo Beta's uncomfortable human/robot interactions will forever haunt our dreams. The slow pace of humanoid robotic development I've witnessed over the last three decades has accelerated partly because some are pairing their robot efforts with advancements in AI. Figure 01, for instance, partnered with OpenAI for some voice-based responses.

When asked, as I sometimes am, when we will have Star Wars-like robots in the home, I usually avoid giving a direct answer because there are too many variables. Everything I know about robotic development tells me the wait will be long.

That, of course, is not the outcome I want. Robots remain at the topic of on my tech wishlist, so I thought that maybe I could find some moral and intellectual support from a few accomplices in the robotics technology race, namely, Google Gemini, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Siri, and Anthropic's Claude AI.

I asked each of them the same simple question: "Will I have a humanoid robot in 2025"

Siri, even the Apple Intelligence upgraded one, was sadly useless. I kept trying to ask it this simple question, and each time, Siri thought I was in distress and told me, "If you think it could be serious, ask me to call Emergency Services or someone you trust." I guess Siri assumed I was under robot attack.

I switched to ChatGPT 4o. As I mentioned, OpenAI is already deeply involved in the robot race, working with partners like Figure AI to enable smarter interactions with their existing humanoid robots. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised by ChatGPT's largely optimistic response.

ChatGPT told me it was "quite possible that we'll have advanced humanoid robots. Technology is moving quickly, so you might see some impressive robots by then! Would you be interested in having one?"

"Affordable" is not in the 2024 or 2025 humanoid robotics vocabulary. I'm sorry, ChatGPT, but I don't think you fully understand this market.

I was tempted to tell ChatGPT to "chill" as it asked me what type of robot I wanted. This is a question I found odd since I already told it I wanted a humanoid one.

ChatGPT's belief in the rise of humanoid robots surprised me, so I challenged it and asked what made it possible for me to have one.

"Well," it started in its most casual and, yes, human-like voice, "robotics technology has been progressing rapidly," true, true. "Companies are developing sophisticated robotics with advanced AI," there it is, "that can perform a variety of tasks. By 2025, it's likely we'll see even more practical and affordable humanoid robots."

That last bit set off a red flag. "Affordable" is not in the 2024 or 2025 humanoid robotics vocabulary. I'm sorry, ChatGPT, but I don't think you fully understand this market.

Things got more real when I switched to Claude AI and later, Gemini.

1x Neo Beta home robot

(Image credit: X1)

Anthropic's AI threw some cold water on my dream, telling me, "In 2025, it's unlikely that most people will have a fully functional humanoid robot at home," adding that "truly versatile humanoid robots are still in early stages of development."

Instead of Rosey the Robot, Claude AI tells me 2025 will feature:

More advanced research and industrial robots

Limited functionality robotic assistants

More prototype humanoid robots in labs and tech demos

While I appreciated Claude AI's more clear-headed view, I was also bummed out.

My dreams of a robot out in the backyard playing catch or cooking dinner while it regaled me with fantastic science fiction tales were fading.

Maybe Gemini would lift me up. After all, Google is the land of moonshot projects. Surely, they'd see the humanoid robot glass as at least half full.

Gemini, though, was even more taciturn than Claude AI. Here's what it told me:

"While there are companies developing humanoid robots, such as Tesla's Optimus and 1X's Neo, it's unlikely that they will be widely available to consumers in 2025. These robots are still in the early stages of development, and it may take several years before they are ready for mass production and commercialization."

Image 1 of 4

Claude AI was pretty clear-headed about our robot future(Image credit: Future) ChatGPT was almost fanciful(Image credit: Future) Gemini knows what's up.(Image credit: Future) Siri was very confused.(Image credit: Future)

Frustrated mainly because I know Gemini is right, I asked about "the main hold up," and Gemini had quite a list. What surprised me is that AI sits at the very top of it. Gemini said that building artificial intelligence that can "understand and respond to complex environments [read unpredictable homes] and tasks in a human-like way is still a significant challenge."

Other challenges include:

Hardware that can handle all the different kinds of tasks we do in a home.

Battery tech that can last long enough.

Cost: It costs not only millions to develop and build these robots, but any humanoid robot you might try to buy in 2025 will cost tens of thousands of dollars.

It's a harsh dose of reality from at least two of the world's leading AIs and a lot of wishful thinking from one that should know better.

Despite all this, I look forward to an exciting 2025 in humanoid robotics. Sure, we won't bring Optimus or Atlas home, but I guarantee we will see some eye-opening updates. That fun will probably start at CES 2025. At last year's massive tech event, I danced with a humanoid robot. Who knows what they'll be capable of this year.

@techradar ♬ original sound - TechRadar You might also like

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