Logitech chief says ill-conceived gadgets put the AI in FAIL
(2025/12/04)
- Reference: 1764854352
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/12/04/logitech_chief_ai/
- Source link:
Logitech's CEO says that AI-powered devices are a solution looking for a problem, despite being a strong proponent of AI and her firm pushing out exactly the kind of thing she's talking about.
In an interview with [1]Bloomberg , Hanneke Faber, head of the Swiss mouse and webcam maker, dismissed efforts of other hardware companies to build AI into their gadgets.
"What's out there is a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist," she reportedly told Bloomberg.
[2]
Admittedly, there have been some oddities such as the [3]Humane AI Pin , a voice-powered chunk of plastic that users were supposed to pin to their clothing, and the [4]Rabbit R1 , a small square device equipped with a 2.88-inch touchscreen that used AI to interact with your smartphone so you wouldn't have to.
[5]
[6]
Logitech would never do that, of course, and so claims to be holding off on dabbling in AI-enabled widgets that allow users to interact with an AI assistant. Except, perhaps, for the [7]Signature AI Edition Wireless mouse , which features a dedicated button that fires up a dialog to create ChatGPT prompts.
[8]Logitech leaks data after zero-day attack
[9]Logitech's MX Master 4 mouse buzzes with haptic feedback but lacks lefty love
[10]Solar flair: Logitech's K980 Signature Slim keyboard runs on rays
[11]Logitech's latest keyboard and mouse combo is wired, quiet, and suspiciously sensible
The recently launched MX Master 4 mouse also offers a shortcut button to Microsoft Copilot, for those who don't find having a dedicated Copilot key on their keyboard galling enough.
So let's not get the impression that Faber is some kind of AI skeptic like the now (in)famous [12]Ed Zitron . Last month, she told [13]Fortune that she'd be open to the idea of having an AI-powered board member, and that Logitech now uses AI agents in almost every meeting.
"If you don't have an AI agent in every meeting, you're missing out on some of the productivity," she claimed.
[14]
Perhaps Faber will change her mind on gadgets if and when OpenAI chief Sam Altman and former Apple designer Jony Ive come up with their prospective AI boondoggle. The pair were [15]reported to be planning a startup to develop some kind of personal AI-powered gizmo way back in 2023, and [16]recently said they are prototyping the device, expecting it to arrive in less than two years. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-03/logitech-ceo-says-ai-devices-are-solutions-looking-for-problems
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aTG-J3_y7R55PK-AJ0YITgAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/hp_acquires_humane/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/12/ces_weird_tech/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aTG-J3_y7R55PK-AJ0YITgAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aTG-J3_y7R55PK-AJ0YITgAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/17/logitech_introduces_ai_prompt_tool/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/16/infosec_news_in_brief/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/30/logitech_mx_master_4/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/24/logitech_k980_signature_slim/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/18/logitech_k620_m520/
[12] https://www.wheresyoured.at/
[13] https://fortune.com/2025/10/13/logitech-ceo-open-to-ai-bot-board-member-fortune-most-powerful-women-conference/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aTG-J3_y7R55PK-AJ0YITgAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/28/openai_ive_apple_ai/
[16] https://www.theverge.com/news/827607/openai-hardware-prototype-chatgpt-jony-ive-sam-altman
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
In an interview with [1]Bloomberg , Hanneke Faber, head of the Swiss mouse and webcam maker, dismissed efforts of other hardware companies to build AI into their gadgets.
"What's out there is a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist," she reportedly told Bloomberg.
[2]
Admittedly, there have been some oddities such as the [3]Humane AI Pin , a voice-powered chunk of plastic that users were supposed to pin to their clothing, and the [4]Rabbit R1 , a small square device equipped with a 2.88-inch touchscreen that used AI to interact with your smartphone so you wouldn't have to.
[5]
[6]
Logitech would never do that, of course, and so claims to be holding off on dabbling in AI-enabled widgets that allow users to interact with an AI assistant. Except, perhaps, for the [7]Signature AI Edition Wireless mouse , which features a dedicated button that fires up a dialog to create ChatGPT prompts.
[8]Logitech leaks data after zero-day attack
[9]Logitech's MX Master 4 mouse buzzes with haptic feedback but lacks lefty love
[10]Solar flair: Logitech's K980 Signature Slim keyboard runs on rays
[11]Logitech's latest keyboard and mouse combo is wired, quiet, and suspiciously sensible
The recently launched MX Master 4 mouse also offers a shortcut button to Microsoft Copilot, for those who don't find having a dedicated Copilot key on their keyboard galling enough.
So let's not get the impression that Faber is some kind of AI skeptic like the now (in)famous [12]Ed Zitron . Last month, she told [13]Fortune that she'd be open to the idea of having an AI-powered board member, and that Logitech now uses AI agents in almost every meeting.
"If you don't have an AI agent in every meeting, you're missing out on some of the productivity," she claimed.
[14]
Perhaps Faber will change her mind on gadgets if and when OpenAI chief Sam Altman and former Apple designer Jony Ive come up with their prospective AI boondoggle. The pair were [15]reported to be planning a startup to develop some kind of personal AI-powered gizmo way back in 2023, and [16]recently said they are prototyping the device, expecting it to arrive in less than two years. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-03/logitech-ceo-says-ai-devices-are-solutions-looking-for-problems
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aTG-J3_y7R55PK-AJ0YITgAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/hp_acquires_humane/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/12/ces_weird_tech/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aTG-J3_y7R55PK-AJ0YITgAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aTG-J3_y7R55PK-AJ0YITgAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/17/logitech_introduces_ai_prompt_tool/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/16/infosec_news_in_brief/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/30/logitech_mx_master_4/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/24/logitech_k980_signature_slim/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/18/logitech_k620_m520/
[12] https://www.wheresyoured.at/
[13] https://fortune.com/2025/10/13/logitech-ceo-open-to-ai-bot-board-member-fortune-most-powerful-women-conference/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aTG-J3_y7R55PK-AJ0YITgAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/28/openai_ive_apple_ai/
[16] https://www.theverge.com/news/827607/openai-hardware-prototype-chatgpt-jony-ive-sam-altman
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
An AI powered board member...
theOtherJT
...couldn't be much less useful than the ones they have now as far as I can see.
Bit Rich, Isn't It?!
Ascy
Considering they bundled the Logi AI Prompt Builder thing with their Logi Options+ software that you have to go in an frickin' disable, despite never asking for it, it's a bit rich for Logitech to say something like that. I love AI, but AI that I specifically want to use (like Claude) and not their crapware (that you didn't even know was there until you wonder what the heck is using CPU cycles). Yet more proof that hypocrisy doesn't have mass. Because if it did, we'd all be living in a black hole.
The problem to the solution
Quite easily, you need to reduce the workload of our overwhelmed brain. Our brain needs to be properly formed into a square gadget fitting a round hole using a star shaped wrench with a triangle shaped handle. Anybody of age 3+ should know that and be able to put it into their mouth.
And if that wasn't enough, all money resulting from that effort will be redistributed to those who really deserve (*) the extra income.
(*) No, no, not those poor suckers. You know the deserving are the filthy rich who need to become richer in order to compete with being rich.