Mycroft, the open source, privacy-respecting alternative to Amazon Echo and Google Home is shutting down after running out of money.
Mycroft was created by Joshua Montgomery, a 15-year entrepreneurial veteran with a background as an aerospace engineer. As a long-time open source advocate, Montgomery wanted to create a voice assistant that could provide the convenience of commercial options while still respecting user privacy.
After a major Kickstarter campaign, Montgomery has informed backers that the project has run out of money and will not be able to fulfill orders for the Mycroft Mark II.
“I have some unfortunate news to share and there’s no easy way to say it, so here it is,” writes Montgomery. “We will not be able to fulfill any remaining Mark II rewards.
“Since starting here in early 2020 I’ve had to make some of the toughest decisions I’ve ever faced, and none more so than at the end of last year. At the end of November, just after the Mark II entered production, I was faced with the reality that I had to lay off most of the Mycroft staff. At present, our staff is two developers, one customer service agent and one attorney. Moreover, without immediate new investment, we will have to cease development by the end of the month.”
Needless to say, the news is not going over well with backers, many of whom are questioning why the project has run out of money, despite multiple rounds of funding. Some also questioned why the company has more than 100 units on eBay for $499 each instead of sending those units to backers.
Ultimately, Mycroft’s fate is all too familiar among crowdsourced hardware projects, with many failing to overcome the cost and logistic issues involved in manufacturing.
The demise of Mycroft is also unfortunate in the wider privacy debate. While convenient, Amazon Echo and Google Home siphon gargantuan quantities of user data and are a privacy nightmare. If the Mycroft project is truly dead, it’s a major blow to the privacy-conscious.