If the robot runs on the maker's servers, it stops; if it runs on its own chip, nothing changes. Moxie, a $799 children's companion that ran its conversation on cloud language models, stopped working within days of its maker Embodied closing in December 2024, and most owners were refused refunds. Jibo went dark in 2019 when its servers went off. Vector survived Anki's collapse the same year only because Digital Dream Labs bought the rights. Of today's robot pets, Loona (about $449 to $499), EMO ($279 to $369) and Miko 3 (about $199) carry that risk because they talk through a network; Eilik (about $149) and Moflin ($429) do not.
Free: the Mini Robot Guide, every robot pet marked by what runs on the maker's servers and what runs on the robot → Download the report
What actually happened to Moxie?
Embodied announced in early December 2024 that a funding round had collapsed after a lead investor withdrew, that it could not continue, and that Moxie's cloud services would stop "soon". Moxie used cloud language models for its conversation, lessons and much of its behaviour, so the robot on the shelf became a blue face that no longer answered. The company said its finances prevented refunds and that it would prioritise buyers from the last 30 days if it ever could. Parents posted videos of children saying goodbye; a community effort to restore the robot with open-source software followed. The lesson was not about Moxie's quality, which reviewers had praised. It was that a connected companion is a service with a body, and the service lives as long as the company does.
Which robot pets have this happened to before?
Jibo (2017 to 2019): the first social home robot, $899, shut down when its servers went off; a later revival was limited. Anki Vector (2018 to 2019): Anki closed with 200 employees; Vector was bought by Digital Dream Labs and revived on a subscription, with uneven support since. Amazon Astro for Business: discontinued in 2024 eight months after launch. Moxie (2020 to 2024): above. The pattern is the same each time: cloud voice and vision, a maker funded by venture rounds, and a robot whose body outlives its brain.
Which robot pets you can buy now would survive, and which would not?
| Robot | Maker | What runs on servers | What survives a shutdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loona | KEYi Tech | voice (ChatGPT), updates, some games | roaming, reactions, charging; no voice, no updates |
| EMO | LivingAI | voice, weather, most features via app | idle animations and touch reactions |
| Miko 3 | Miko | conversation, lessons, parent dashboard | very little; it is a learning service |
| Eilik | Energize Lab | nothing | everything |
| Moflin | Casio | nothing (Bluetooth app optional) | everything |
The offline robots cannot be switched off from outside. The connected ones lose exactly the features you paid the premium for. That is not a reason to avoid them; Loona's conversation is the best in the category because it runs on a live model. It is a reason to buy them from a maker you have looked at, which is the next section, and to know what the robot keeps if the worst happens.
How do you judge a maker's staying power before you buy?
Five checks, none of them needing an expert.
- Age and volume. A maker that has shipped for three years and sells through big retailers (KEYi, Living.AI, Energize Lab, Miko, Casio) is not a start-up on its first round.
- Who owns it. Moflin is Casio's; a robot backed by a large company does not die when a lead investor walks.
- Update history. An app updated monthly is a maker still investing; one frozen for a year is a warning.
- What runs offline. Read the product page for the words "works without Wi-Fi". If the answer is nothing, price the robot as a subscription you paid up front.
- The community. Vector and Moxie both had owners who tried to rescue them; a robot with a large owner base has a second life a niche one does not.
We compared the five robots in the table on those checks: all five makers have shipped for more than three years or belong to a large company, and none has a frozen app. The risk is real and, for the current buy list, low.
What should you do if your robot's maker closes?
Keep the robot charged and off the network for the last update; look for the owner community, which for Vector and Moxie appeared within days; check whether the maker released an offline mode or open-sourced the software, as Moxie's community pursued; and read the refund terms, because most makers, like Embodied, will not be able to pay. For a connected robot bought for a child, plan the conversation before the news, not after; the Moxie families who fared best were the ones who had told their children the robot was a computer with a face. Which robots suit which age is in Which robot pets suit kids, and from what age?, and what each one needs to run is in Do robot pets need Wi-Fi, an app or a subscription?.
Details checked on the makers’ own stores.
FAQ
Does Moxie still work?
No. Embodied closed in December 2024 and Moxie's cloud services stopped; a community open-source effort followed. Refunds were refused for most owners.
Does Vector still work?
Yes, on a subscription from Digital Dream Labs, which bought the rights after Anki closed in 2019. Support has been uneven.
Which robot pets keep working if the company closes?
Eilik, Moflin and the soft pets, because nothing they do runs on a server. Loona and EMO keep their offline behaviours and lose voice and updates.
Can a robot pet be rescued after a shutdown?
Sometimes. Vector was bought and revived; Moxie's owners pursued an open-source restoration. Neither is something a buyer should count on.
How do I know if a robot maker is safe to buy from?
Look for years of shipping, a large owner, a monthly-updated app, offline features, and a big owner community.
Sources
- Axios, "Maker of AI robots for kids abruptly shutters", 10 December 2024; Popular Science, Mack DeGeurin, 10 December 2024; Cybernews and Daily Dot, December 2024 (Moxie, $799, cloud dependence, refunds, community proposals); Ars Technica (open-source restoration update).
- The Verge (Jibo shutdown, 2019); Christoph Bartneck, University of Canterbury blog ("Jibo is dead (again)").
- KEYi blog, "Loona vs Vector vs EMO", 2025 (Anki closure, Digital Dream Labs revival, subscription).
- Popular Science, December 2024 (Amazon Astro for Business discontinued).
- KEYi Tech, Living.AI, Energize Lab, Miko and Casio product and app pages, 2026 (what runs offline; update cadence).
What each robot keeps if its maker closes. The Mini Robot Guide marks every robot pet by what runs on the maker's servers and what runs on the robot. Free, one email. → Download the report
