Ghost
Category: AI Agents
Ghost builds Core, a $3,499 personal AI computer that runs AI models and proactive personal agents entirely on-device. Ghost was founded in 2025. The company is led by Zain Javaid. Based in San Francisco, US. Team size: 1-10. Total funding raised: $11M. Latest round: Seed. Key investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract Ventures, Audacious Ventures, SV Angel, Nova, Z Fellows.
- Founded
- 2025
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, US
- Team size
- 1-10
- Total funding
- $11M
Value proposition
A screenless 'brain in a box' that runs open-weight models locally 24/7. It connects to a user's apps, files, wearables and smart-home devices, builds continuous personal context, and acts proactively. All data, memory and model weights stay on the user-owned device, with no subscription.
Products and solutions
Core is a personal AI computer priced at $3,499. Specs: NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell SFF GPU with 24GB GDDR7, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 CPU, 64GB DDR5 memory and a 1TB NVMe SSD. It ships with Qwen 3.8-Next, Qwen 3.8-27B, Gemma 4-31B and Muse-Glimmer-30B preinstalled, and users can install Hugging Face or custom models. Core includes its own software layer, browser and filing system, a companion phone app with voice mode, over-the-air model updates, and an agent network firewall for credential and data-exfiltration control.
Unique value
Core is purpose-built hardware and software for always-on local AI agents, with no setup required. Intelligence, memory and data are owned entirely by the user, and the device keeps working even if Ghost shuts down.
Target customer
Privacy-conscious consumers, prosumers and early adopters who want always-on personal AI agents without cloud dependence
Industries served
Consumer electronics, personal productivity, digital health and wellness, smart home
Technology advantage
Ghost integrates local LLM inference hardware with a proprietary agent software stack covering memory, proactive reasoning and action. It adds end-to-end encryption, an on-device agent firewall monitoring outgoing requests, and Tesla-style OTA model upgrades. Units are assembled in-house in San Francisco.
How they differentiate
Unlike general-purpose computers such as the Mac Mini, Core comes preconfigured with models and agent software designed for continuous, proactive operation. Unlike cloud-based agent devices such as Rabbit, all inference and memory run locally, and the device is designed to function independently of the company.
Main competitors
Apple Mac Mini (DIY local AI setups), Rabbit (R1 / OS3 personal agent), Mini PC vendors for local AI such as Minisforum and ACEMAGIC
Key partnerships
Ships hardware built on an NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell GPU. Integrates with wearables and services such as Whoop, Oura and Eight Sleep. These are product integrations, not formally announced partnerships.
Major milestones
Founded in 2025 and spent about a year building in stealth. Emerged from stealth in October 2026 with an $11M seed round led by a16z and launched Core preorders. First shipments are planned for late October 2026.
Growth metrics
Preorders for the first batch opened October 5, 2026, with shipping scheduled for the last week of October 2026. The Reddit r/LocalLLM launch thread drew 141 votes and 113 comments.
Market positioning
Premium consumer AI hardware for local, privacy-first personal agents. The company emerged from stealth in October 2026 backed by a16z.
Geographic focus
United States
About Zain Javaid
Ex-Quant at Millennium; Z Fellows. Started coding at age 9, traded at a hedge fund by 14, and founded his first company at 15.
Latest news about Ghost
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Official website: https://ghost.ai