Nothing to launch AI-native device in 2026, CEO Carl Pei says it is not a smartphone

Nothing, a phone manufacturer based in London, has disclosed its intentions to improve the way artificial intelligence (AI) is incorporated into gadgets. Carl Pei, the CEO of Nothing, hinted that the company’s first AI-powered gadgets might be released in 2026.

Nothing raised $200 million at a $1.3 billion value in a Series C fundraising round on Tuesday, September 16. Carl Pei announced the company’s intentions to concentrate on artificial intelligence (AI) in the upcoming years on X after the fundraising.

He wrote, “From building the only new smartphone company of the last decade, to creating an AI-native platform where hardware & software converge.” Moreover, the Nothing co-founder hinted that the London-based phone maker could build a much more personalised user experience with AI, with “A billion different operating systems for a billion different people.”

Carl Pei insisted that it was time for consumer hardware to evolve with mass AI adoption. He set 2026 as the year for Nothing’s “first AI-native devices.” In a community post, Carl Pei recognised that smartphones will remain the mass market product for the years to come, but with a twist. He wrote, “But soon, we’ll all be carrying an additional device that will be just as important.”

Nothing did not give any details on the potential form factor for such an AI-native device. As per Pei, the AI-native devices will be “products that are available to the user at the moment of need, paired with intelligence that turns understanding into action.” Perhaps a form of a personal assistant that could meet a user’s needs.