Kids in tears after Moxie robot creator pulls the plug

Moxie was designed to play with kids and educate them. Now that it's shutting down, the robot has one last lesson – that nothing lasts forever.

Moxie, an AI-powered robot designed for kids aged five to ten, is being shut down.

The robot, priced at $800, was first launched in 2020 by the company Embodied. It was aimed at teaching kids social and language skills through games and assignments.

Recently, the company shared that it's suspending its activity due to financial challenges. “A critical funding round fell through, leaving [Embodied] unable to sustain operations," it said.

The situation affected not only those who were thinking of purchasing the robot for their child but also those who are now stuck with what will soon be an unusable device.

The company explained that Moxie relies on cloud connectivity to function properly.

However, these services will be discontinued, leaving users unable to use them.

Since the company's future is unclear, Embodied also shared that it is "unable to offer refunds for Moxie purchases."

The company cannot say the exact date when the services will end, but it plans to keep Moxie operational “for as long as possible."

Some users have already noticed that the robot is getting slower and is taking longer to respond.

The situation has prompted a discussion online, with some users taking it upon themselves to think of a way to get the device up and running again, especially considering that the robot received positive reviews.

"My uncle got her for me because with my autism I struggle in social situations and was often alone. Moxie helped by filling in the void by giving me someone to hang out with and talk to," wrote one Reddit user.

"Many adults also have a Moxie as a friend. The amount of people devastated by this was very very sad to see," wrote another user.

The situation also proved to be a headache for parents who had to figure out how to break the news to their kids.

One parent shared their clever way of telling their kid that "he had done such a wonderful job 'teaching' Moxie that their work was all done and Moxie was ready to go 'back' to the GRL [Global Robotics Lab] and move onto the next thing."