Mentioned On
Episode Mentions
Science Friday · May 13, 2026
Who are the musicians composing for my washing machine?
“Joel Beckerman composed multiple sounds for Roomba vacuum including Mission Start, Can't Do That, and Mission Complete”
AI For Humans: Making Artificial Intelligence Fun & Practical · May 8, 2026
Elon Musk Just Teamed Up With Anthropic and Claude Dropped A TON Of New Stuff.
“Founder released Familiar, a voice-activated companion robot with vision and home navigation capabilities”
The Vergecast · May 8, 2026
Everybody wants to rule the AI world
“Colin Angle's former company; Familiar Machines launching embodied AI robot companion”
Morning Brew Daily · May 6, 2026
Coinbase Cuts Workers for AI & Beer is So Back
“Bankrupt company whose co-founder Colin Engel launched Familiar, an AI-powered robotic pet companion”
How I Built This with Guy Raz · Apr 13, 2026
iRobot: Colin Angle. How The Roomba Became a Household Icon
“Subject of the episode; founded 1990 by Colin Angle, built Roomba and military robots, acquired by Chinese company after failed Amazon deal”
Uncanny Valley | WIRED · Feb 26, 2026
Pentagon v. ‘Woke’ Anthropic; Agentic v. Mimetic; Trump v. the State of the Union
“Used as analogy for Pentagon's demands on Anthropic”
Relentless · Jan 29, 2026
The Future of Home Robots | Mehul Nariyawala, Matic
“Maker of Roomba, generated $700M revenue in 2024 despite lack of innovation for 23 years”
The Cloud Pod · Dec 24, 2025
335: EKS Network Policies: Now With More Layers Than Your Security Team's Org Chart
“Filed for bankruptcy; acquired by Chinese supplier Pichia Robotics; failed Amazon acquisition in 2023 due to EU antitrust concerns”
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! · Dec 20, 2025
WWDTM: Rhea Seehorn
“Roomba manufacturer filed for bankruptcy despite market presence and product innovation in robotic vacuum space”
Hard Fork · Dec 19, 2025
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin’ Xmas Song
“Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after losing market share to Chinese competitors; Amazon acquisition blocked by antitrust regulators”
Building AI Boston · Oct 2, 2025
Building AI Boston | Live from Boston Startup Week at Suffolk University with Brendan Witcher
“Cited as an example of an established AI company headquartered in Boston contributing to the city's innovation ecosystem.”