Manufacturer Bragi stops with headphones and shifts focus to AI licenses

German audio manufacturer Bragi has stopped producing its wireless Dash earphones. The hardware branch of the company is said to have been acquired by an undisclosed buyer. In the future, Bragi wants to focus mainly on licensing its AI technology.

Bragi CEO Nikolaj Hviid confirmed in a conversation with Wareable that his company will no longer develop new hardware. Instead, Bragi wants to transform itself into a software company, including by licensing the ‘ultra-efficient artificial intelligence’ of the Dash Pro earphones to other headphone manufacturers. “Our software can be updated with several new features, such as Amazon Alexa, translation capabilities and personalized sound,” said Hviid.

Bragi’s Dash products saw the light of day in 2016 after a successful Kickstarter campaign. The manufacturer wanted to compete with Apple’s AirPods with its true wireless earphones, but initially encountered production problems and mediocre reviews. The second generation of the earphones was better received, but in the meantime the market for wireless earphones had become very competitive.

Although production of the Dash earphones has been discontinued, existing customers can still count on technical support. It is not known who took over the hardware branch of Bragi. According to Wareable, both Google and Fitbit have shown interest in the company in the past, but Bragi chose not to reveal the identity of the ultimate buyer.

Bragi’s Dash Pro