Zach Yadegari, the 19‑year‑old who sold his calorie‑tracking app Cal AI, has started Persona, an AI assistant with a $179 wearable band. Vine Ventures led a $10 million seed round, joined by Z Fellows founder Cory Levy and Collective Global. The band, which activates by button or wrist flick, won’t listen continuously and runs its AI in the cloud for privacy. Persona is now in free beta on iMessage and plans to ship the band in December.
Why it matters
The cheap, privacy‑focused wearable could give everyday users a voice‑controlled assistant without a constantly listening device.
