Adcock backs Hark with $800m

Brett Adcock’s new company Hark is giving a clearer picture of what comes after humanoid robots in the current AI hardware race. The startup launched publicly on March 24 and said it was building “advanced personalized intelligence” by developing AI models, software systems, native hardware and interfaces together. Two months later, reports said Hark had raised more than $700 million, adding to the roughly $100 million Adcock said he put in himself when he founded the company in late 2025. (businesswire.com) That makes the headline number around Hark less about a single financing round than about the scale of support behind a company that is still revealing little about its product. (techcrunch.com) Adcock, who also founded Figure AI and Archer Aviation, is trying to build a consumer AI platform that does not sit on top of existing phones or laptops but is designed with its own hardware from the start. ### Why is Hark getting attention beyond the funding number? Hark said in its March launch announcement that it was creating intelligence paired with next-generation hardware intended to serve as a “universal interface” between humans and machines. (businesswire.com) The company said it was taking a vertically integrated approach by building foundation models, software systems, native hardware and interfaces together from the outset. Bloomberg reported on March 24 that Adcock described Hark as working on a family of AI devices for individuals and the home. He said those products would be distinct from existing handsets, wearables and smart glasses. (siliconangle.com) ### What is Hark actually saying it wants to build? Adcock said in Hark’s launch statement that current AI systems are “far from my vision of what the future should be” and that the company wants to build systems that can take on more of a user’s mental workload. Hark said the core product idea includes multimodal AI, persistent memory, proactive behavior and real-time speech. (businesswire.com) TechCrunch reported that Hark has described the product as a “seamless end-to-end personal intelligence product” that can listen, see and interact with the world in real time. The company has not publicly detailed the hardware form factor. (bloomberg.com) ### Why does the Apple hire matter? Abidur Chowdhury, previously credited by Hark and TechCrunch as a lead designer on Apple’s iPhone Air, joined Hark as director of design. Hark said its team spans AI research, hardware engineering and design recruits from Apple, Meta, Google and other technology companies. (businesswire.com) Chowdhury told TechCrunch in March that existing devices were built around older computing platforms and that few companies were pursuing what a more native AI interface might look like. He declined to give product specifics, but said the public should expect a first release of Hark’s AI models this summer. (techcrunch.com) ### How does this connect back to Figure AI? Adcock remains closely associated with Figure AI, the humanoid robotics company he founded, and that link is part of why Hark is drawing attention. Business Insider reported on May 21 that Hark’s raise positioned Adcock to compete in AI hardware with companies including OpenAI, Apple, Google and Meta, even as he remained Figure AI’s chief executive. (businesswire.com) The overlap is not that Hark is building a robot. The overlap is that Adcock is again arguing that the product has to be designed as a full stack, with software and hardware developed together rather than assembled from standard components and third-party models. (techcrunch.com) That is the same broad systems argument Hark makes in its own launch materials. ### What comes next that can actually be checked? Hark said on March 24 that it had emerged from eight months of stealth, and Chowdhury told TechCrunch the first public release of its AI models is expected in summer 2026. Bloomberg also reported that Adcock said the company was developing multiple devices rather than a single product. (businessinsider.com) (techfundingnews.com) (businesswire.com)