When Tony Fadell takes the stage at the inaugural MIT Future Fest, he projects a slide with three images of once-hyped AI devices that have already been discontinued: the Rabbit R1, the Humane AI pin, and the Limitless pendant.

“These were kind of the ‘Gen 1’ AI products, and because of my background, these companies called me and asked me to help them,” Fadell said. “I didn’t.”

It’s no surprise that these companies want Fadell’s advice. He’s credited as the “father of the iPod,” a co-creator of the iPhone, and the founder of Nest, the smart thermostat company acquired by Google.

“You have to really understand what you’re trying to do, what pain you’re trying to solve,” he said. “In each of these cases, each one of them didn’t meet any kind of need — it was just interesting technology for geeks, and you’re like, ‘Okay, that’s neat, but it doesn’t really apply to my life.’”

These early AI devices promised the convenience of having a personal assistant, but didn’t actually work that well. Even if they did, most people have never had an assistant and know how they would use — or grow to trust — a personal robot helper.

“It’s less than 0.01% of the world population that has ever had a human [assistant] do anything, and so when [companies] say, ‘Oh, we want an assistant,’ that’s a bunch of people who have assistants saying it,” he said. “Most consumers don’t even know what an assistant is.”

Fadell goes on to explain to those of us in the 99.99% that hiring a trustworthy personal assistant isn’t as straightforward as pulling the most promising resume out of a pile of applications.

“It took me a couple of years first to understand how best to utilize [an assistant], and then to trust them with the most sensitive data, and have them be an agent where they’re setting up meetings with people and working with my bank,” he said. “I understand we have this vision of the future, but there’s a lot of steps to get the general consumer and even the general business on this path.”

It’s hard to talk about the struggles of building trust in your personal assistant without sounding a bit entitled, but Fadell has a point. When you hire a human assistant, you’re not giving them your bank account login on day one. We’re heading into a world where anyone can have a personal AI assistant, but these tools are only valuable if we can trust them to be completely secure.

At this point, establishing trust with an AI assistant seems even harder than relying on a human. Meta recently launched Muse, its all-purpose AI assistant, but users have reason to be wary. A security researcher quickly found a serious vulnerability in Muse after launch, and a recent 404 Media report states that some Meta employees discovered security issues that prompted multiple teams to embark upon a “mad dash” to fix these problems before launch, working overtime.

“Trust and safety are going to be paramount with anything that we turn over to some kind of intelligence,” Fadell said. “The only company I could see right now — maybe one other — is Apple who could do this. Apple has all the hardware, they have all the chips, they have all the pieces, but they don’t have all the AI stuff.”

Even if it’s not Apple that ultimately produces the stickiest AI agent, Fadell predicts that a successful agent will have to operate on-device only, both for the sake of privacy and to keep the tech lightweight.

“When you’re hearing all of these things about, ‘Oh, data centers are going to conquer the world,’ … I don’t believe it,” he said. “I’ve seen this before. I’ve seen this play out in the internet days and what have you. We have so much power on the device now, and even more compute, and they’re still battery operated.”

By keeping sensitive data on-device, rather than transmitting it through the cloud, Apple has garnered trust from users to share their biometric data through features like Face ID. As Fadell notes, Apple seems to have more goodwill with consumers than its competitors when it comes to privacy, but unlike other top tech companies, Apple doesn’t have a world-class AI model of its own — the new Siri AI runs on custom-built versions of Google’s Gemini.

While Apple lags in proprietary AI, it is leaps ahead in hardware. Fadell theorizes that companies like Meta and OpenAI are turning their attention toward gadgets because they don’t have billions of devices in circulation like Apple does.

“It’s because they don’t have access to the sensors on your phone. They’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll need video,’ and you have to check, ‘Yes, I’ll give you video.’ Then they say, ‘Well, we need audio.’ Check. ‘We need your GPS location.’ Check. And before you know it, it becomes a list of 20 things or more than you have then allowed them to have,” he said. “So what do they do? They go and make a device with all that stuff in it without a screen… and then they just Bluetooth or Wi-Fi into your phone and then back up to the web, or into a 5G network, so they can get all the sensor data.”

Given his history creating the iPhone and iPod, it might seem like Fadell is still looking at his former employer through rose-colored glasses. While he may give Apple credit where due, he hasn’t been shy to call Apple out when he thinks they’re messing up.

When an audience member asks about the luck involved in finding product-market fit, Fadell points out that it’s more difficult for startups to manufacture that luck, since a failed product can spell the end of the company.

“Because it’s a startup, you get one shot,” he quipped. “It’s not like Apple with the Vision Pro.”

OpenAI just made one of its biggest bets yet on what comes after the chatbot. Now, the person leading that product is coming to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, happening October 13-15.

Alexander Embiricos, product lead for Dots at OpenAI, will join us at Moscone West in San Francisco just days after the company unveiled its new always-on personal AI agent.

Dots are designed to go beyond answering prompts. They have their own cloud computers, can connect to the apps people use every day, and can keep working toward a goal in the background, potentially giving AI far greater access to our work and digital lives.

Don’t miss this conversation, happening exclusively on the AI Stage at Disrupt. Register now to save up to $100 on your ticket and get a second pass at 50% off.

What happens when AI starts acting for us?

That increased autonomy also raises some much harder questions.

How much control are we actually willing to hand over to an AI agent? What should it be allowed to do without asking? And as these systems learn more about us and gain access to increasingly sensitive information, can companies like OpenAI earn enough trust for people to use them?

At Disrupt, Embiricos will sit down with TechCrunch for his session called “What Comes After the Chatbot?” to talk about the thinking behind Dots, where OpenAI believes personal agents are headed, and why privacy and trust could ultimately determine whether they take off.

Join Alexander Embiricos and 250+ tech leaders spearheading the conversations across 200+ sessions in the six industry stages, roundtables, and breakouts at TechCrunch Disrupt, October 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. Don’t forget about 10,000 founders, investors, and operators that you can spark meaningful connections with.

Disrupt is just seven days away. Save up to $100 on your ticket before rates increase and get a second pass at 50% off.

In six days, 10,000+ people from across the global startup and tech ecosystem will come together at San Francisco’s Moscone West for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. If you’re planning to be one of them, don’t wait to register your ticket before prices increase at the door.

Discounted online pricing is available before doors open on October 13, with pass savings of up to $100. Plus, bring a colleague, co-founder, or friend and get 50% off a second eligible pass. Laid off? There’s a $75 Expo+ Pass with your name on it.

See what’s next at Disrupt before everyone else does

From October 13-15, the Expo Hall is where hundreds of startups and technology companies bring their latest ideas to life. Spend your time discovering emerging products, new business models, and companies that could be shaping the next wave of technology.

If the event’s activations and impactful connections are what bring you to Disrupt, there are also 200+ sessions across six stages, roundtables, and breakouts, featuring 250+ tech leaders covering everything from AI and fundraising to fintech, robotics, infrastructure, product, hiring, and scaling.

The lineup includes Mark Wahlberg, co-founder of MUNICIPAL; Dots product lead at OpenAI Alexander Embiricos, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe; Inspired Capital founder and managing partner Alexa von Tobel; Cerebras Systems CEO Andrew Feldman; Anthropic’s Cat de Jong; NVIDIA’s Les Karpas; and many more.

And don’t miss Startup Battlefield 200, where 20 finalists will compete live on the Disrupt Stage for the $100,000 prize and the attention of investors, media, and the global startup ecosystem. This is the pitch competition to lean in at if you’re thinking of or currently scaling. You’ll learn from top VCs what it takes to make a winning pitch and what makes a viable startup.

Save up to $100 before doors open

Six days remain until the Disrupt doors swing open at Moscone West. Save up to $100 on your pass now and get 50% off a second eligible pass when you register before the event. Laid off? Get an Expo+ Pass for just $75.