Hark, backed by Figure, has raised $700M at a $6B valuation and plans to release its first AI hardware devices in 2027. The assistant includes a virtual cloud computer called Handoff that scored 97.7 on the Online-Mind2Web web-agent benchmark, surpassing GPT 5.4 and Claude Opus 4.8. The product's interface was led by Abidur Chowdhury, a former Apple designer, and is currently available for free on iOS, Android, and web, with paid tiers at $20 and $100.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
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Hark Infrastructure Strains After User Growth Explodes in 48 Hours
AI12 days ago
Founder Brett Adcock is coordinating emergency technical repairs after an influx of new users caused the platform's back end to destabilize shortly after its debut. The startup's proactive AI assistant experienced infrastructure failures across its web and mobile versions because demand was far beyond company expectations, Adcock said. The service saw 143,244 daily active users and more than 1.5 million messages sent within its first full day of availability.
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