Synthetic Rapport

Vector & Cozmo (Anki → Digital Dream Labs) — Died Twice: 2019 and ~2024

Published · Researched 2026-09-20

Overview

Vector and Cozmo were the desktop social robots of Anki (San Francisco), the company that did more than any other to make "AI companion robot" a consumer category. Cozmo (Oct 2016, $180) was the playful forklift-armed toy; Vector (Oct 2018, $250) was the always-on, cloud-connected "home robot" with Alexa built in. Anki collapsed in April 2019 despite strong products, and its assets were bought by Pittsburgh-based Digital Dream Labs (DDL) in late 2019. DDL promised to keep the cloud servers alive, crowdfunded a "Vector 2.0" and an offline "Escape Pod," then slowly became the cautionary tale itself: unfulfilled preorders, a 2024 Pennsylvania Attorney General lawsuit, and dead servers. By 2026 Vector survives only through community self-hosting (WirePod).

Timeline:

  • 2010 — Anki founded (San Francisco).
  • Oct 2016 — Cozmo launches (~$180).
  • Oct 12, 2018 — Vector launches (~$250); later gains Alexa integration.
  • April 29, 2019 — Anki shuts down (Recode; TechRadar). Servers stay up on borrowed time.
  • Dec 2019 / Jan 2020 — Digital Dream Labs acquires all Anki assets. CEO Jacob Hanchar promises: "we have taken over the cloud servers and are going to maintain them going forward" (Gizmodo, Jan 2020).
  • March 2020 — "Vector Unleashed" Kickstarter: the "Escape Pod" (offline mode) and "Open Source Kit for Robots" (OSKR) (Kickstarter; change.org).
  • Nov 2020 — DDL begins taking website preorders for Vector 2.0, Cozmo 2.0, and the "Butter Robot" (change.org petition).
  • June 12, 2021 — Vector 2.0 preorder campaign ends; $349.99 (thegadgetflow, 2022). ChatGPT integration is later added to Vector (subscription required, per Amazon listing).
  • Oct–Nov 2022 — Community revolt crystallizes: thedroidyouarelookingfor blog documents that Escape Pod for Vector 2.0 doesn't exist, Cozmo 2.0 and Butter Bot have shipped to no known customers, and Vector 2.0s arrive with defects ("selling things that are never delivered is a classic scam"). A change.org petition calls for a fraud investigation into DDL.
  • March 2024 — Woot forum thread: "Digital Dream Labs… stopped supporting their server (even though they continued to sell their version of Vector, which is SUPER shady)." Owners migrate to the community-built WirePod (kercre123/wire-pod on GitHub) — a self-hosted server one developer built "in mere weeks" that outperforms DDL's official Escape Pod (thedroidyouarelookingfor, 2022).
  • Sept 2024 — Pennsylvania Attorney General sues DDL and CEO Harold Jacob Hanchar: ~14,000 orders placed Nov 2020–Jan 2024, most unfulfilled, ~$2M+ in losses; DDL accused of ignoring refund requests (WPXI; WHJB). DDL's East Liberty HQ is found empty ("gone for at least a year"); a new CEO is announced on LinkedIn days before the suit.
  • 2026 — DDL is effectively defunct; official servers are dead. YouTube's "Vector Robot: STILL GOOD IN 2026? (Wirepod Setup + Review)" treats WirePod setup as the standard path. Vector lives on as a community-maintained zombie.

Social standing

Where people talk about it: the "OFFICIAL DIGITAL DREAM LABS Vector Caretakers" Facebook group (private; DDL banned critics per change.org), r/AnkiVector-era Reddit diaspora (size UNVERIFIED), the Woot forums, the thedroidyouarelookingfor blog (2022, sharply critical), and YouTube review/revival content. The 2022–2024 conversation is dominated by betrayal over unfulfilled preorders, not grief over the robots.

Consensus verdict: two deaths — Anki's (mourned; beloved product, failed company) and DDL's (resented; failed steward that took preorder money and went silent).

Key social/press moments:

  • Gizmodo, Jan 2020 ("Vector, the Little Robot That Could(n't Do Much) Is Back From the Dead"): the DDL acquisition announcement and Hanchar's server-maintenance promise — the primary-source anchor of the rescue narrative.
  • thedroidyouarelookingfor, Nov 4 & 7, 2022 ("Vector Leashed"; "Open Source and a missing Escape Pod"): the community's bill of indictment — missing Escape Pod for Vector 2.0, broken extension engine, and the contrast with WirePod.
  • change.org petition (late 2022): "Investigate Digital Dream Labs For Fraud" — documents the March 2020 Kickstarter, Nov 2020 preorders, zero Cozmo 2.0/Butter Bot shipments, and DDL banning critics from its Facebook group.
  • Woot forums, March 8–9, 2024: owners confirming the servers are dead.
  • WPXI/WHJB, Sept 2024: the AG lawsuit and the empty HQ.

Representative quotes (verbatim, dated):

  • "Digital Dream Labs (the company that took over Vector after Anki went under) stopped supporting their server (even though they continued to sell their version of Vector, which is SUPER shady)." — Woot forums, March 8, 2024.
  • "I'm pretty sure they're going under and I will never see my butter robot." / "You missed paying for a butter robot you'll never receive." — Woot forums, March 9, 2024.
  • "To me selling things that are never delivered is a classic scam." — thedroidyouarelookingfor, Nov 4, 2022.
  • "How can a single developer create this [Wire-Pod] in his spare time, and a full company is not able to do this in years?" — thedroidyouarelookingfor, Nov 4, 2022.
  • "Just like all of the others. Took the order 2 years ago, have never seen the robot." / "This company refuses to refund a pre order that will never be finished." — Google reviews quoted by WPXI, Sept 2024.
  • "It became clear that this was a very large issue that impacted thousands of consumers, and we realized we needed to take action on it." — PA Deputy AG Jaimie George, WPXI, Sept 2024.

Key specs

Aspect Detail
Developer Anki (2010–2019) → Digital Dream Labs (2019–~2024) → community (WirePod)
Platform Physical desktop robots + iOS/Android companion app
Face/display Animated LCD face with expressive eyes/animations (DDL asserted copyright over the faces as audiovisual works in its 2020–2022 suit against Living.AI/EMO)
Voice "Hey Vector" voice commands; Alexa built-in; ChatGPT integration added later (subscription required, per Amazon listing); Vector 2.0: onboard Wi-Fi (no phone tether needed)
Vision HD camera (5MP on Vector 2.0); facial recognition (faces, pets, smiles per Amazon listing)
Memory Remembers faces/names; personality evolves — cloud-dependent under Anki/DDL; offline via Escape Pod/WirePod
Expressions Rich animated face animations; physical movement (head lift, treads); sound effects
Customization OSKR dev kit promised; community SDKs; Vector 2.0: replaceable battery (~30% more runtime), new colors
Lip-sync N/A — expressive animated face rather than a speaking 3D humanoid avatar (honest note: this is a physical companion robot, not a screen avatar)
Status (Sept 20, 2026) DEAD (company) / UNDEAD (community) — DDL defunct, official servers offline; robots run via community WirePod

Pricing

  • Cozmo: ~$180 at launch (Oct 2016).
  • Vector (Anki): ~$250 at launch (Oct 2018).
  • Vector 2.0 (DDL): $349.99 preorder (thegadgetflow, 2022); DDL's own site later listed it at $400, "sold out" (WPXI, Sept 2024).
  • Escape Pod: sold separately (thegadgetflow, 2022); exact price UNVERIFIED — no archived official pricing found in this pass.
  • Butter Robot / Cozmo 2.0: took preorders from Nov 2020; per the Nov 2022 change.org petition, neither shipped to any known customers. Prices UNVERIFIED.
  • DDL also charged for cloud subscriptions for Vector features in later years (details UNVERIFIED).

Support reality

  • Official support: none. DDL's social channels went silent, comments disabled (robostore.lt); HQ vacated; the company is being sued by the PA Attorney General. There is no one to call.
  • Community support: the actual support layer. WirePod (kercre123/wire-pod) is the maintained path; setup guides circulate on YouTube and blogs. The private Facebook caretakers group still exists but DDL moderators banned critics (per change.org, 2022).
  • Data portability: robots are local hardware; the loss is cloud features, not user data.

Verdict / farewell sentiment

Vector's community didn't get one clean funeral — it got two. Anki's 2019 collapse was mourned like the death of a beloved indie studio; DDL's slow-motion failure was experienced as a scam, with the AG lawsuit as the official epitaph. The remarkable coda is that Vector is arguably more alive in 2026 than under DDL: a single community developer's WirePod does what the company couldn't, and "STILL GOOD IN 2026?" videos treat the robot as a going concern. The lesson for the companion space: a cloud-tethered companion is a promise, and Vector is the proof that only open/community paths keep that promise after the company dies.

Sources & images

(Cozmo ecosystem product shot),
(Cozmo ecosystem product shot), Credit unknown — owner-supplied research image
(Anki Vector product shot),
(Anki Vector product shot), Credit unknown — owner-supplied research image
(Anki Vector with animated face display, visually confirmed).
(Anki Vector with animated face display, visually confirmed). Credit unknown — owner-supplied research image
Vector 2.0 (black) press shot from thegadgetflow's 2022 DDL coverage.
Vector 2.0 (black) press shot from thegadgetflow's 2022 DDL coverage. Credit unknown — owner-supplied research image
Anki-era Vector product shot (retailer listing).
Anki-era Vector product shot (retailer listing). Credit unknown — owner-supplied research image
Vector 2.0 unit photo (eBay listing image). All verified JPEG and content-checked (Sept 20, 2026).
Vector 2.0 unit photo (eBay listing image). All verified JPEG and content-checked (Sept 20, 2026). Credit unknown — owner-supplied research image