{"id":"5da80fdb-1f24-4b99-bcac-205516c9dc9e","companyId":"e235f536-2006-4c74-a5fc-945dd14c74e4","modelName":"Omi","slug":"omi","description":"Omi, by Based Hardware (founder and CEO Nik Shevchenko, a Thiel Fellow, in San Francisco, with about $700,000 raised), is a shipping AI necklace in the ambient-recording 'second brain' category: a small circular orb worn on a neck lanyard that captures conversations and runs them through GPT-4o for ambient transcription in more than 25 languages, auto-summaries and tasks, a searchable memory database, daily recaps, and a Brain Map. It sells for $89 as a consumer unit or about $70 as a dev unit, with a free tier of unlimited on-device transcription plus 1,200 cloud minutes a month and an Omi Unlimited plan from $16 a month, on a hardware-sale-plus-subscription model where the user owns the device. It is one of the few genuinely open-hardware entries in the cohort, with an MIT-licensed GitHub repository of around 12,700 stars containing firmware, mobile and desktop apps, a backend, and open hardware designs, actively maintained into 2026. A disambiguation worth recording: Omi is distinct from Friend, Avi Schiffmann's AI companion pendant already in the registry, since Shevchenko's device was originally also called Friend and was renamed Omi after Schiffmann's competing device acquired the friend.com domain. The AI is genuine cloud functionality rather than veneer. A significant cap-flag applies to the aspirational marketing: CES 2025 headlines describing a brain interface that reads your mind via neural signal are unverified, with TechCrunch explicitly unable to verify the brain interface, the shipping product being audio-only, and the brain-computer-interface module remaining a 2026-2027 roadmap item with no EEG implementation in the open repository, so all neural and mind-reading claims are treated as aspirational.","formFactor":"wearable","maturityStage":"commercial","lifecycleState":"active","supersededByModelId":null,"specs":{"notes":[{"label":"Verified","value":"Omi (by Based Hardware; founder/CEO Nik Shevchenko, Thiel Fellow; San Francisco; ~$700K raised) is a shipping AI necklace in the ambient-recording 'second brain' category. One of the few TRULY open-hardware entries in the cohort (MIT-licensed, actively maintained). maturity=commercial."},{"label":"DISAMBIGUATION","value":"Omi is DISTINCT from Friend (Avi Schiffmann's AI companion pendant, in registry as friend-pendant). Nik Shevchenko's device was originally also called 'Friend' but was renamed to Omi after Schiffmann's competing device bought friend.com (~$1.8M). Keep separate."},{"label":"AI-substance: genuine (cloud)","value":"Real cloud AI (GPT-4o): ambient transcription, auto-summaries/tasks, searchable memory, daily recaps. Not veneer. Captive-vs-sale: hardware SALE + optional SaaS subscription (user owns device; can self-host given the open stack)."},{"label":"CAP-FLAG (aspirational EEG/brain-interface claims)","value":"Marketing (CES 2025 headlines: 'reads your mind', detect when you address it via neural signal) is UNVERIFIED: TechCrunch explicitly could not verify the brain interface; the SHIPPING product is audio-only; the brain/BCI module is roadmap (2026-2027, priority-access) with NO EEG/BCI implementation in the repo (only a 'BCI' topic tag). Treat all neural/mind-reading claims as aspirational. '250+ developer apps' is company-claimed, not audited."}],"specs":"Small circular orb (~2.5cm) on a neck lanyard (also head-mountable). $89 consumer / ~$70 dev (one-time). Free tier: unlimited on-device transcription + 1,200 cloud min/mo; Omi Unlimited from $16/mo. GPT-4o cloud AI: ambient transcription (25+ languages), auto-summaries/tasks, searchable memory DB, daily recaps, 'Brain Map'. Genuinely open-source (GitHub BasedHardware/omi, MIT, ~12.7k stars, firmware + Flutter/macOS apps + open hardware incl. 'Omi Glass').","formFactor":"wearable (AI necklace orb; ambient recording / 'second brain' transcription + recall)"},"manufacturerSerial":null,"reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/08/omi-a-competitor-to-friend-is-an-ai-wearable-that-can-be-worn-as-a-necklace-or-taped-to-your-head/","title":"Omi (vs Friend): AI wearable; renamed after Avi Schiffmann bought friend.com; brain-interface UNVERIFIED","sourceName":"TechCrunch"},{"url":"https://github.com/BasedHardware/omi","title":"BasedHardware/omi (open-source, MIT; ~12.7k stars; firmware + apps + open hardware; active 2026)","sourceName":"Based Hardware (GitHub)"},{"url":"https://www.omi.me/pages/product","title":"Omi product: $89 consumer / ~$70 dev; free 1,200 cloud min/mo; Omi Unlimited from $16/mo; GPT-4o","sourceName":"Omi (official)"},{"url":"https://decrypt.co/315375/omigpt-aims-smarter-ai-wearable","title":"OmiGPT smarter AI wearable (ambient transcription + searchable memory)","sourceName":"Decrypt"}],"aliases":["Omi","OmiGPT","Based Hardware Omi"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"manufacturerTermForTeleop":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-03T21:08:38.285Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-03T21:08:38.285Z","jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Product","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/models/omi","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/models/omi","name":"Omi","alternateName":["Omi","OmiGPT","Based Hardware Omi"],"description":"Omi, by Based Hardware (founder and CEO Nik Shevchenko, a Thiel Fellow, in San Francisco, with about $700,000 raised), is a shipping AI necklace in the ambient-recording 'second brain' category: a small circular orb worn on a neck lanyard that captures conversations and runs them through GPT-4o for ambient transcription in more than 25 languages, auto-summaries and tasks, a searchable memory database, daily recaps, and a Brain Map. It sells for $89 as a consumer unit or about $70 as a dev unit, with a free tier of unlimited on-device transcription plus 1,200 cloud minutes a month and an Omi Unlimited plan from $16 a month, on a hardware-sale-plus-subscription model where the user owns the device. It is one of the few genuinely open-hardware entries in the cohort, with an MIT-licensed GitHub repository of around 12,700 stars containing firmware, mobile and desktop apps, a backend, and open hardware designs, actively maintained into 2026. A disambiguation worth recording: Omi is distinct from Friend, Avi Schiffmann's AI companion pendant already in the registry, since Shevchenko's device was originally also called Friend and was renamed Omi after Schiffmann's competing device acquired the friend.com domain. The AI is genuine cloud functionality rather than veneer. A significant cap-flag applies to the aspirational marketing: CES 2025 headlines describing a brain interface that reads your mind via neural signal are unverified, with TechCrunch explicitly unable to verify the brain interface, the shipping product being audio-only, and the brain-computer-interface module remaining a 2026-2027 roadmap item with no EEG implementation in the open repository, so all neural and mind-reading claims are treated as aspirational.","identifier":"5da80fdb-1f24-4b99-bcac-205516c9dc9e","category":"wearable","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}}}