Rabbit Is Back, This Time With an AI Agent App — SkimNews
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- Rabbit announced OS3, a standalone "agentic operating system" designed to run across multiple screens and accessible through a desktop browser, Telegram, or iMessage without needing the company's R1 device.
- Jesse Lyu defended the R1's track record, claiming Rabbit shipped more than 100,000 units worldwide with return rates under 5% and hardware margins of roughly 45 to 50%.
- Rabbit stopped manufacturing the R1 and is focusing on software; its next hardware, a "vibe coding" machine Lyu calls a Cyberdeck, is slated to arrive within months.
- OS3 uses a "Bring Your Own Key" approach requiring users to supply their own API keys from providers like OpenAI or Anthropic — or link local open-source models — with no monthly subscription fee.
- Rabbit deployed roughly 50 software updates over the past 18 months and built a Discord community of more than 12,000 users who shape feature priorities, including open integrations like OpenClaw and Hermes AI agents.
- Lyu disclosed that the company nearly collapsed last year when a planned India launch was blocked by regulations, triggering employee strikes over alleged unpaid wages; he says Rabbit, which has raised around $60 million total and currently employs 15 people, has since secured more funding.
- OS3 runs on Rabbit's DLAM (Direct Large Action Model) technology, links up to five machines per account, and presents a single continuous chat stream that Lyu repeatedly calls a "brain dump" interface.
Why it matters: Rabbit's pivot from a dedicated gadget to a BYOK cross-platform agent OS reframes the company from hardware maker to AI platform play, while its 100,000-unit, 45-50% margin claim recasts the R1's 'flop' narrative. With just 15 employees and $60 million raised against billion-dollar AI labs, the open, no-subscription stance is both ideology and a fight-to-survive posture.
Ask SkimNews
