At 19, founder raises $11M for Ghost, maker of a $3,499 computer for personal AI
At 19, founder raises $11M for Ghost, maker of a $3,499 computer for personal AI
19岁创始人为 Ghost 融资 1100 万美元，打造售价 3499 美元的个人 AI 电脑
For much of his life, Zain Javaid, 19, wanted to be a quant who uses math and data to guide his investment decisions. And for a while, he was one. But he got bored. Then, in 2022, ChatGPT was released, and he told TechCrunch, “I felt fundamentally excited in a way that I never had been before.” 在 Zain Javaid 19 岁的大部分人生中，他一直想成为一名利用数学和数据来指导投资决策的量化分析师。他确实做过一段时间，但后来感到厌倦。2022 年，ChatGPT 发布了，他告诉 TechCrunch：“我感到了一种前所未有的、根本性的兴奋。”
He became interested in personal AI, and that interest led him to start Ghost, which announced Monday that it has emerged from stealth after a year of building, along with an $11 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Other investors in the round include Abstract, Audacious Ventures, SV Angel, and Nova. His founding team includes Nicholas Chua, 19, Yifei Chen, 24, and Gautam Sharda, 23. 他开始对个人 AI 产生兴趣，这份兴趣促使他创办了 Ghost。周一，Ghost 宣布在经过一年的秘密研发后正式亮相，并完成了由 Andreessen Horowitz 领投的 1100 万美元种子轮融资。其他参投方包括 Abstract、Audacious Ventures、SV Angel 和 Nova。他的创始团队成员包括 19 岁的 Nicholas Chua、24 岁的 Yifei Chen 和 23 岁的 Gautam Sharda。
Ghost’s first product is Core, a personal computer designed specifically for AI agents that can take actions on a person’s behalf. According to Javaid, the idea is to centralize a person’s data, from what’s on their desktop to apps to smart home devices, into one piece of hardware designed to continuously run AI agents that can act as an assistant, perform tasks, and understand a person’s life. “You can run models on existing hardware, but it’s a terrible experience on many levels,” said Javaid, who is also Core’s CEO. Ghost 的首款产品是 Core，这是一款专为能够代表个人执行操作的 AI 智能体而设计的个人电脑。据 Javaid 介绍，其理念是将个人的数据（从桌面文件到应用程序，再到智能家居设备）集中到一台硬件设备中，该设备旨在持续运行 AI 智能体，从而充当助手、执行任务并理解用户的生活。“你可以在现有硬件上运行模型，但在许多层面上体验都很糟糕，”同时担任 Core 首席执行官的 Javaid 说道。
Core includes an Nvidia RTX Pro 4000 SFF Blackwell GPU (a type of chip commonly used to run AI models), said Javaid, adding that the GPU is bundled into the device’s price, so customers don’t need to buy one separately. He said it also has its own software layer, browser, and filing system and can continuously process information and tasks without constant prompting. Core costs $3,499. Preorders for the first batch open Monday, and shipping is scheduled for the last week of October. Javaid 表示，Core 搭载了 Nvidia RTX Pro 4000 SFF Blackwell GPU（一种常用于运行 AI 模型的芯片），并补充说该 GPU 的成本已包含在设备价格中，因此客户无需额外购买。他还提到，Core 拥有自己的软件层、浏览器和文件系统，无需持续提示即可不断处理信息和任务。Core 售价 3499 美元。首批预订于周一开启，预计将于 10 月最后一周发货。
Javaid described Core as a “brain in a box” without a screen, which users access through a phone or app. Voice mode is also available, but users must speak into the Core app rather than the box itself. Core comes with three models preinstalled: Qwen-3.8-Next, Qwen-3.8-27B, and Gemma-4-31B. Javaid said users can also install other models from Hugging Face, where developers share AI models, or load their own trained models. Javaid 将 Core 描述为一台没有屏幕的“盒中大脑”，用户通过手机或应用程序进行访问。设备也支持语音模式，但用户必须对着 Core 应用程序说话，而不是对着盒子本身。Core 预装了三个模型：Qwen-3.8-Next、Qwen-3.8-27B 和 Gemma-4-31B。Javaid 表示，用户还可以从开发者分享 AI 模型的平台 Hugging Face 安装其他模型，或加载自己训练的模型。
Asked how Core differs from a Mac Mini, Apple’s small desktop computer that some people set up to run AI tools, Javaid said Core’s hardware and software were built specifically for running AI agents, with models already installed, while the Mac Mini is a general-purpose computer that can be configured for AI. “As new models or improvements to existing models come out, we can push out over-the-air updates, similar to how Tesla works,” Javaid said of Core, adding that if a new generation of models comes out, the company asks users whether they want to switch. “Users can also turn on auto-updates so they’re always running the latest generation of a given model.” 当被问及 Core 与苹果 Mac Mini（一些人将其配置为运行 AI 工具的小型台式机）有何不同时，Javaid 表示，Core 的硬件和软件是专门为运行 AI 智能体而构建的，且模型已预装完毕，而 Mac Mini 是一款可以配置 AI 功能的通用计算机。“随着新模型或现有模型的改进发布，我们可以像特斯拉那样推送无线更新，”Javaid 在谈到 Core 时说。他补充道，如果新一代模型发布，公司会询问用户是否愿意切换。“用户也可以开启自动更新，这样他们就能始终运行特定模型的最新版本。”
The team currently builds the units at its San Francisco facility. Javaid said the goal is to sell a fully functioning computer that doesn’t require complex setup or configuration. He said the models and personal memory run locally, and that all personal information is encrypted so that no cloud provider or third party, including Ghost, can meaningfully access it. He also said users can control how much autonomy they give their Core agents, and that the device is programmed to keep working if Ghost shuts down. 该团队目前在旧金山的工厂组装设备。Javaid 表示，目标是销售一台无需复杂设置或配置即可完全运行的计算机。他说，模型和个人记忆都在本地运行，所有个人信息都经过加密，因此没有任何云服务提供商或第三方（包括 Ghost）能够获取这些信息。他还表示，用户可以控制赋予 Core 智能体的自主权程度，并且该设备被编程为即使 Ghost 公司倒闭也能继续工作。
“All of the source code, logic, and model weights live on the device, not the services,” he said. “We build this device to not be dependent on having an outside entity maintaining the service.” He said the team is also building a firewall to limit how the agent can use its credentials, such as logins and passwords. The firewall “monitors every outgoing network request on the computer and if it sees the agent performing a sanctioned action or exfiltrating data it shouldn’t, it rejects the request and flags it for user review.” “所有的源代码、逻辑和模型权重都存储在设备上，而不是云端服务中，”他说。“我们构建这款设备的目的，就是不依赖外部实体来维护服务。”他表示，团队还在构建防火墙，以限制智能体使用登录名和密码等凭据的方式。该防火墙“会监控计算机上的每一个传出网络请求，如果发现智能体执行了未经授权的操作或试图窃取不该传输的数据，它会拒绝该请求并标记出来供用户审查。”
“The user owns all of it,” he said of the device, memory, and data. “Once you buy the hardware, everything is stored, run, and processed on the device.” He said he is not too worried about the competition, including from established tech companies. “People sometimes give incumbents credit for having already built the product because they have the ingredients,” he said. He credited Apple with good hardware and disruption, but said much of what Core is aiming to tackle is software: “The model reasons over your life, how it remembers, how it takes action, how it knows when to reach out,” he continued. “用户拥有这一切，”他在谈到设备、记忆和数据时说。“一旦你购买了硬件，所有内容都存储、运行并处理在设备上。”他表示并不太担心竞争，包括来自老牌科技公司的竞争。“人们有时会因为现有企业拥有资源，就认为他们已经做出了产品，”他说。他称赞苹果拥有出色的硬件和颠覆性能力，但表示 Core 旨在解决的问题大部分在于软件：“模型会对你的生活进行推理，它如何记忆、如何采取行动、如何知道何时联系你，”他继续说道。
Javaid offered an example of how Core is meant to work: “Core proactively sends you a notification that you might be getting sick because it sees your resting heart rate is elevated, sees from computer history that you were up late working on a project, and has seasonal context that it is flu season in San Francisco.” The company’s main focus is building a product people love, he said. “If we can’t do that, Apple isn’t the reason we failed,” he said. Javaid 提供了一个 Core 如何工作的例子：“Core 会主动向你发送通知，提醒你可能要生病了，因为它检测到你的静息心率升高，从电脑历史记录中看到你熬夜做项目，并且结合了旧金山正处于流感季节的背景信息。”他说，公司的主要重点是打造人们喜爱的产品。“如果我们做不到这一点，那不是因为苹果，而是我们自己的失败。”