The individual who introduced a Roomba into every household aims to substitute your dog with a soft robotic companion.

      Colin Angle, the robotics engineer known for co-founding iRobot and transforming the Roomba into the leading home robot, has introduced the Familiar, a prototype of an AI pet robot featuring touch-sensitive fur that learns to adapt to your daily routines.

      The Familiar is produced by Familiar Machines & Magic, a startup that had been operating in secrecy in Woburn, Massachusetts, until Angle showcased a working prototype at the Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything conference in New York on May 4. This plush-covered robot is similar in size to a bulldog and designed with doe-like eyes, bear cub ears, and paws. It emits animal-like sounds but doesn’t speak. With audio input capabilities, it can listen and learn from interactions, and its AI technology, based on advancements in generative AI, progressively tailors its behavior based on familiarization with the people around it.

      Angle expressed to the Associated Press that the design intentionally avoids resembling a human, dog, or cat to prevent preconceived notions. He noted, “The challenge is to create something that isn’t just a toy to observe. It’s about having a companion you want to hug and pet; its happiness should reflect back on you.”

      The concept of robotic pets isn’t novel—Sony released the plastic robotic dog Aibo in the late 1990s, which was reintroduced in 2018. MIT researcher Cynthia Breazeal, one of Angle’s advisers at Familiar Machines, developed the Kismet robot head and the Jibo speaker robot, both early attempts at creating machines with social expressions. While Jibo found a dedicated audience, it ultimately faced shutdown, and the history of social robots includes many that intrigued early users but failed to sustain market success.

      Angle believes that the Familiar stands out due to advancements in technology now making the concept feasible. “I couldn’t have done this six months ago,” he stated. The transformative generative AI systems fueling products like ChatGPT enable the Familiar to learn contextually and adapt, something previous companion robots lacked. The robot is capable of following its owner around the house and can interact physically, with its behavior evolving into a personality shaped by its owner's actions over time.

      The launch of this venture is closely tied to Angle's experience with iRobot, which he co-founded in 1990 with other members of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. Over thirty years, iRobot sold over 50 million Roomba units and became the go-to home robot for many. However, after Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition announcement in 2022, regulators in the US and Europe investigated for 18 months before Amazon ultimately abandoned the deal in January 2024 due to regulatory challenges. Following this, Amazon shifted its focus toward acquiring smaller robotics companies, and iRobot, unable to compete with more affordable Chinese competitors, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2025, selling its assets to a Chinese manufacturer. Angle stepped down as CEO and chairman in 2024 and subsequently founded Familiar Machines.

      Angle has termed the iRobot bankruptcy as “avoidable” and criticized the regulatory processes as “misguided,” stating that the FTC treats blocked deals as “trophies.” This experience has influenced his new endeavor. While iRobot operated as a hardware manufacturing entity competing on price, Familiar Machines is focused on a product whose value relies on its AI capabilities rather than manufacturing costs. An adaptive plush companion robot is inherently more challenging to replicate than a vacuum cleaner.

      One key demographic for the Familiar includes retired individuals who are past the age of pet ownership. Angle noted that while people don’t stop enjoying pets, the responsibilities associated with caring for them deter many from adopting new pets as they age. According to Fact.MR, the market for companion robots in elderly care is expected to grow from $480 million in 2025 to over $1.2 billion by 2035, fueled by aging populations in Japan, Europe, and North America.

      Angle has gathered a team of advisers with significant expertise in robotics. Among them are Marc Raibert, founder of Boston Dynamics, and Breazeal. Many of his advisers, who worked together at MIT, are skeptical of the current uprising of humanoid robots, which they see as impressive in mobility but limited in practical functionality. While the humanoid sector is drawing substantial venture capital interest and competition from companies like Tesla and Meta to create general-purpose bipedal robots, Angle is purposefully adopting a different approach: developing a robot that is not meant to be useful in traditional senses but rather emotionally significant.

      It may take some time before the Familiar becomes available for purchase. Angle has not revealed pricing, production schedules, or funding details. The name Familiar is inspired by folklore, referring to the animal companion of a witch or wizard, a concept recognizable from Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series. Angle found it surprising that he could trademark the name.

      The premise is that the next successful home robot may not be one that cleans or