Embodied, Inc.

The story of Embodied, Inc. of Pasadena, California, is a warning that everyone buying a cloud-dependent robot should know. The company, founded in 2016, sold Moxie from June 2020, a social companion robot for children aged 5 to 10. Its whole personality and ability to hold conversations depended on the manufacturer's servers. In November 2024 a funding round collapsed, in December the outlet Axios reported on the shutdown of Moxie, and on January 30, 2025 the servers were switched off for good. The devices in homes became useless, with no refund. The media described children who talked to the robot every evening and woke up to silence, which is why it is impossible to write about this story with indifference. Later a volunteer project, OpenMoxie, offered a local replacement server, but only for devices updated before the shutdown. The company does not exist as an operating entity, and its fate shows how important the manufacturer's business continuity is. The story also has a legal and ethical dimension: data collected from children by a robot with a camera and microphone becomes a problem when the company disappears, as we discuss in “Data Security: Robots with Cameras and the GDPR”. Every parent and every institution considering a companion robot should keep this in mind.

The portfolio held a single device: Moxie, with the status withdrawn. It had a camera, a microphone and touch sensors, relied on a cloud-based language model and cost 799 USD. Today it is more an educational case than an offer. In the category “Educational robots” it remains an important reference point: it shows that before buying a companion robot you have to ask what happens when the servers stop working. Home and school applications are described on the pages “Schools” and homes. You will find more on choosing robots for children in “Educational Robots for Schools and Universities”, and on the risks of cameras and microphones in “Data Security: Robots with Cameras and the GDPR”. How to judge a product's durability through the lens of costs is shown in “Humanoid Robot TCO: How to Calculate Total Cost”. Among the features described, the emotional elements stand out: the robot was meant to hold conversations and support children's social and emotional development, which the manufacturer emphasized in its communication. After the servers were shut down these functions stopped working, which shows why, in a product description, the question of offline operation matters more than the list of sensors. The price as of September 27, 2026, converted, is about 3,097 PLN (≈ EUR 710 at NBP rate 4.3641 of 21 October 2026), but today it has only illustrative value.

Embodied no longer has a market position, but it does have a position as a cautionary tale. The closest living counterpart is Miko 3 from Emotix, sold in India and also cloud-dependent. Another variant of the same category is Vector 2.0 from Digital Dream Labs, which revives the brand after Anki's collapse and also requires a subscription. Among educational products with no dependence on a single cloud provider are kits such as LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Set from LEGO Education or ROBOTIS OP3 from ROBOTIS. There is no data on sales volume, valuation or a stock listing. The main takeaway: with cloud-dependent robots, the hardware is not the only risk. A further reference point is the category of educational robots as a whole, described in “Educational robots”. It shows a split between products tied to a single cloud provider and those that run locally. In short: the market remembers Moxie as proof that hardware without its own server is a purchase made on faith, and every subsequent company in this category is judged through that lens.

Moxie was not officially available in Poland, and after the servers were shut down in January 2025 it is not available anywhere. There is no Polish distributor, and we found no deployments in Polish schools or universities. If someone in Poland does have such a unit, the only option is the volunteer OpenMoxie project, but only for devices updated before the shutdown. Choosing a robot for a Polish school will be easier with the text “Educational Robots for Schools and Universities”, and learning robotics in the country is described in “How to Start Learning Robotics in Poland”. Polish parents looking for a robot for a child should always ask about a mode of operation without an internet connection.

Embodied does not exist, and there is nothing to buy in Moxie. Its story, however, is the best lesson for parents and schools: before buying a cloud-dependent robot, ask what happens if the manufacturer disappears. In the category “Educational robots” you will find hardware without such a trap. If you have such a unit at home, check the OpenMoxie project and whether your software version supports it, and with future purchases ask every manufacturer about a mode of operation without the cloud.