This Jammer Wants to Block Always-Listening AI Wearables. It Probably Won't Work

Deveillance's Spectre I, developed by a recent Harvard grad, wants to give people control over the always-on wearables surrounding their lives. The problem? Physics.

A new startup called Deveillance (pronounced dee-veil-ance) announced its first-ever gadget earlier this week—a sleek, portable tabletop orb that aims to jam nearby devices from recording voices.

Called Spectre I, the microphone jammer is a combination of ultrasonic frequency emitters and AI smarts designed to not only block devices trying to capture someone’s speech, but also detect and log nearby microphones, all while being small enough to carry around. It’s still very much in development, but the company expects to sell the Spectre I in the second half of 2026 for $1,199.

The announcement caused quite a stir on social media. It was boosted by some as cyberpunk-style resistance tech against the ever-growing category of always-listening AI wearables, but also became ...