- What happened
- Embodied announced it was shutting down in December 2024. Moxie relied on the company's cloud for conversation, so owners were left with a robot that could no longer do its main job.
- What it meant for owners
- Families who had paid hundreds of dollars lost the core feature. A community effort later tried to keep units running, but that is not something an ordinary buyer can count on.
- The lesson
- If a robot's personality lives in the cloud, the company's survival is part of the product. Ask what works offline before you buy.
For companionship that needs no cloud, see simple robotic pets
Sources: Embodied shutdown notice, December 2024 (widely reported). Verified October 10, 2026.
Dead: servers shut down
Jibo
Social home robot
- What happened
- After the original company wound down, Jibo's servers went offline in 2019 and the robot told owners it would stop working. The brand was later acquired, but the consumer product was never relaunched.
- What it meant for owners
- An $899 robot became a desk ornament for most owners.
- The lesson
- The cautionary canon of home robotics: hardware outlives the company only if the software can run locally.
Read how we score shutdown risk
Sources: Widely reported, 2019. Verified October 10, 2026.
- What happened
- Anki shut down in 2019. Digital Dream Labs bought the assets and later shipped Vector 2.0, which is sold with a paid software subscription.
- What it meant for owners
- Original owners spent months unsure whether their robots would keep working. The revived product costs more to own because of the subscription.
- The lesson
- A rescue is possible, but it usually changes the price of ownership. Budget for a subscription appearing later.
See which robots we track as still supported
Sources: Robotics 24/7 coverage of Vector 2.0 shipping. Verified October 10, 2026.
- What happened
- Amazon's $19.99/month caregiver service launched in September 2021 with 24/7 Urgent Response, a caregiver circle and integrations with third-party fall-detection devices. As of October 2026 there is no way to sign up, and Amazon's current senior-safety offer is Alexa Emergency Assist.
- What it meant for owners
- Families lost the caregiver dashboard and the fall-device integrations. Some third-party listings still describe products as working with Alexa Together.
- The lesson
- When a platform dies, the devices built on it can be orphaned. Check that every link in an emergency chain still exists today.
What replaces it: our living-alone-safely guide
Sources: Android Central launch coverage, Sept 28, 2021; Verified unavailable on Amazon, Oct 10, 2026. Verified October 10, 2026.
Orphaned: do not buy
Vayyar Care (consumer)
Radar fall detector
- What happened
- Vayyar Care's consumer emergency path ran through Alexa Together, which no longer exists. Clearance listings on sites like Woot have continued to describe that emergency path.
- What it meant for owners
- A buyer could believe a fall will reach a responder when the service that did that is gone.
- The lesson
- Our number-one do-not-buy. A clearance price is not a bargain if the emergency chain is broken.
Camera-free options that still work
Sources: Woot clearance listing (checked 2026-10-10). Verified October 10, 2026.
- What happened
- Amazon announced in July 2024 that it would end Astro for Business. The robots stopped working in September 2024. Amazon offered refunds and credits to business buyers.
- What it meant for owners
- A $2,349.99 robot plus subscriptions stopped working within a year of purchase. The consumer Astro remains invite-only.
- The lesson
- Even the largest companies retire robots quickly. Refund policies matter as much as specs.
Home check-in options sold today
Sources: TechCrunch, July 3, 2024. Verified October 10, 2026.
Dead: company closed
Neato Robotics vacuums
Robot vacuums
- What happened
- Parent company Vorwerk closed Neato in 2023. Some buying guides still rank Neato models, which is how we spot stale guides.
- What it meant for owners
- No new models, and app-dependent features depend on whatever support remains.
- The lesson
- If a guide still recommends a vacuum from a closed company, it hasn't been updated.
Current floor-cleaning systems
Sources: Vorwerk announcement, 2023 (widely reported). Verified October 10, 2026.
Shelved before launch
Samsung Ballie
Home companion robot
- What happened
- Shown at several CES events and given a summer 2025 window, Ballie missed it and was reported in January 2026 to be indefinitely shelved. It was absent from CES 2026. Samsung's registration page stayed live.
- What it meant for owners
- No buyers were affected — but people who planned around it waited years.
- The lesson
- A product registration page is not a launch date.
Track announced-vs-available robots
Sources: Bloomberg via iPhone in Canada, January 2026. Verified October 10, 2026.
- What happened
- LG's two-legged home robot missed its promised 2025 release and was absent from CES 2026.
- What it meant for owners
- None yet — it never shipped.
- The lesson
- Treat company-stated release windows as promises to be checked, not dates.
Robots you can actually buy
Sources: Korea JoongAng Daily, December 2025. Verified October 10, 2026.
- What happened
- Eufy's stair-climbing carrier was promised for spring/first-half 2026. That window expired with no shipment found. The Omni S2 vacuum it was meant to carry shipped in March 2026 without it.
- What it meant for owners
- Buyers who chose the Omni S2 for future stair-climbing are still waiting.
- The lesson
- Never pay for a feature that ships 'later'. Buy for what works today.
Floor systems that work today
Sources: Robot Uncovered research, verified 2026-10-10. Verified October 10, 2026.
- What happened
- iRobot announced a prepackaged Chapter 11 filing on December 14, 2025, with Picea (its lender and contract manufacturer) acquiring 100% of the company. Reporting says the acquisition completed in January 2026. iRobot said it did not expect disruption to the app or product support. A new Roomba lineup was announced in July 2026 and is on sale.
- What it meant for owners
- Roombas keep working today. We found no public long-term commitment on cloud and app support under the new owner.
- The lesson
- Not dead — but until there's a clear continuity commitment, we don't recommend Roombas over alternatives at the same price.
Compare current floor systems
Sources: iRobot press release, Dec 14, 2025; The Gadgeteer, July 30, 2026. Verified October 10, 2026.