TechCrunch: Hark, a new AI interface from a former Apple designer

What happened

Brett Adcock’s AI lab Hark shared details about its approach to AI interface design. The company is building multimodal models, custom hardware, and interfaces in tandem, led by Saurabh Chowdhury, a former Apple designer. Hark plans to release its first AI models this summer, though specific product details remain undisclosed.

Context

Chowdhury’s perspective is notable for what he rejects. He is skeptical of current wearable AI products (pins, camera-equipped devices) and argues against “putting a layer between humanity and the interfaces we use.” Instead, Hark’s approach integrates AI into existing interaction patterns rather than inventing new form factors.

Why it matters for designers

Hark represents a design-led approach to AI product development, where interface design and model architecture are developed together rather than sequentially. For designers following the AI hardware space, Chowdhury’s framing — that traditional UX intuitions about reducing friction and respecting existing behavior patterns still apply to AI products — contrasts with the “everything changes” rhetoric from many AI startups. The company’s first products will test whether a design-centric approach to AI interfaces produces meaningfully different outcomes.