Hark Launches Privacy-Focused AI Personal Assistant With Native Hardware Plans

In a competitive landscape where companies like Muse and Dots are vying to make AI personal assistants indispensable, startup Hark has officially launched its Hark Pro service. Founded less than a year ago by serial entrepreneur Brett Adcock, the company positions its new tool not as a path to artificial general intelligence, but as a practical user interface for AI-driven computer interaction.

Hark Pro operates on a model specifically trained for navigating digital tasks. Users can access the service at no cost, though a subscription tier is available for power users. The platform presents a full-screen interface featuring a central chat dialog, a feed of action prompts, and customizable visual dashboards known as “panels.” The background imagery dynamically adjusts based on the user’s local weather and time of day.

Abidhur Chowdhury, a former Apple employee who leads design at Hark, demonstrated the assistant’s capabilities by highlighting its proactive nature. During the demo, the AI flagged pending expense approvals, unread emails, and an upcoming meeting, while also offering to book a flight for an anticipated trip. Chowdhury noted that while flight booking is a common feature, the assistant recently handled a more nuanced task by recognizing a colleague’s need to renew a California car registration and completing the process through the DMV website.

A key differentiator for Hark is its commitment to transparency and privacy. Unlike many competitors, Hark Pro displays a small window showing exactly how the agent navigates the web, a design choice intended to build user trust. Chowdhury emphasized that the company is not Meta or OpenAI, stating, “We’re not here to like sell you ads and steal your data.” He clarified that their goal is task-oriented assistance rather than creating detailed profiles of users’ social circles.

Chowdhury challenged users to compare Hark Pro against rivals, admitting it may not match the speed of competitors like Muse but arguing it delivers better end-to-end results without requiring human intervention at critical steps. The underlying model is optimized for computer use, offering efficiency and lower costs, though it may sacrifice some of the broad knowledge capabilities found in frontier large language models.

The software represents only half of Hark’s long-term vision. Chowdhury, known for his work on Apple devices, teased that the company plans to release an AI-native hardware device in 2027. While details remain sparse, he dismissed the idea of wearable cameras due to their “creep factor,” insisting the upcoming product will be something “never ever existed before.”