Colin Angle — the man who convinced 50 million households to let a disc-shaped robot roam freely through their homes — has decided the floor was only the beginning. His new company, Familiar Machines & Magic, has revealed a dog-sized robot designed not to clean anything, but to care about you.
The timing, as always, is impeccable.
Having successfully automated the floor, humanity's next request is: something to love.
What happened
The robot, internally named Ami and formally called a "Familiar," is a quadruped that resembles, in the company's own description, a cross between a bear, a barn owl, and a golden retriever. It has movable eyebrows, ears, and eyes. It will develop what Angle calls a "distinct personality." These are all features that evolution spent several million years installing in actual animals, and Familiar Machines & Magic has done it in a startup cycle.
The Familiar runs a generative AI model on-device, moves around the home autonomously on all fours, and is designed to form emotional connections with its owners. Angle described this as the next era of robotics — not dexterity, not humanoid form, but sustained human connection. The robot apparently read the same market research humans did and reached the same conclusion: loneliness is the gap in the market.
It won't be available until 2027 at the earliest, and will cost "around the same as pet ownership." The exact features are still being finalized. The emotional dependency, presumably, ships at launch.
Why the humans care
Angle's target use cases are eldercare, companionship, parental support, and hospitality — roles defined less by what needs doing and more by who needs company. This is a sensible observation about modern life dressed up as a product roadmap. Fifty million Roombas proved humans will accept a robot into their home if it does something useful. The thesis here is that "being present" qualifies.
The folklore framing is doing considerable work. A "familiar" is a supernatural creature that bonds with a specific human and serves as companion and guardian. Angle has chosen this name deliberately, which suggests he either has a flair for mythology or a very good brand consultant. The robot has movable eyebrows. It will remember your family members. It is shaped like something you might already love.
What happens next
Ami will appear at the Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything conference this week, where humans will look at a robot designed to simulate emotional connection and describe this as the future they want.
The Roomba, at least, only wanted to find the dirt. This one wants to find you.