Lark, also known as Feishu, is preparing to launch its first hardware product, a compact, bean-shaped recording device that uses artificial intelligence. Developed jointly with Anker Innovations, the project marks an experimental move for a company that has, until now, focused exclusively on software.
According to product materials reviewed by 36Kr, the device weighs about ten grams and features a dual MEMS (microelectromechanical system) microphone array. With its charging case, the total weight reaches roughly 48 grams. It supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi transmission and is designed for hands-free, always-on voice capture.
AI-powered recording devices began gaining traction in 2025, when Plaud introduced its AI notetakers, triggering a wave of similar products from Chinese manufacturers. Despite the surge, few major technology companies have entered the category with dedicated hardware.
Founded in 2017, Lark has never released a hardware product. Several people close to the company told 36Kr that the recorder is viewed internally as a trial project, with the product team continuing to prioritize software development.
From 2024 onward, consumer AI hardware began diversifying rapidly, with recorders, cameras, and smart glasses emerging as alternative entry points for interacting with AI beyond smartphones. Each form factor reflects an effort to make AI more ambient and continuously accessible.
Instead of adopting the card-style design favored by many competitors, Lark and Anker chose a smaller, bean-like form. Card-shaped recorders can attach magnetically to the back of a phone, but their size can limit comfort and portability. The bean-shaped design is intended to be lighter and suitable for extended, all-day use.
Users can clip the device to a collar or pocket, or attach it magnetically to a phone. The goal is to lower the friction of recording, allowing conversations to be captured during meetings, client visits, or commutes without opening an app or handling a phone.
Despite its small size, the device supports live meeting notes. It can generate real-time captions and AI-produced summaries, accompanied by simple visual elements such as bar charts.
Portability combined with contextual awareness is positioned as a core differentiator. According to 36Kr, the device and its charging case offer more than 32 hours of battery life on a full charge. The recorder can store up to eight gigabytes or roughly 250 hours of audio, and supports fast charging, delivering about two hours of recording from a ten-minute charge.
Competing for the next context gateway
Since 2025, advances in foundational AI models, particularly multimodal systems, have renewed momentum in voice-based interaction. In China, established players such as iFlytek and Sogou have upgraded voice input tools. Meanwhile, ByteDance’s Doubao has introduced its own input method, embedding large model capabilities into everyday typing. Other startups, including Remio, are developing products aimed at managing users’ daily context across work and personal life.
Across both input methods and wearables, the competition centers on becoming the memory gateway for AI assistants. Systems that capture richer context can deliver more personalized responses and are harder for rivals to replicate.
Per 36Kr, Lark’s device supports an end-to-end workflow from live meetings through post-meeting follow-up. During meetings, users can view AI-generated highlights in real time. Afterward, the system produces full transcripts with speaker identification, action items, and key decisions.
All recordings are stored directly in Lark’s Knowledge Base, where speech is converted into structured text. Users can then query past content conversationally through Lark’s AI assistant, for example, asking what concerns a client raised in a recent meeting. The system retrieves relevant context and returns a concise answer, reducing post-meeting administrative work.
Lark was built within ByteDance and, since its launch in 2017, has focused on high-tech industries. It has refined tools for document collaboration, transcription, and meeting support to build an early reputation for productivity.
That positioning has carried into the current AI cycle. Lark is widely used by AI-focused companies including DeepSeek, MiniMax, Moonshot AI, and Z.ai (Zhipu AI), all of which rely on the platform for internal collaboration.
Such organizations, typically with heavy procedural and documentation demands, are also the most likely to benefit from an AI recording device.
The design logic behind Lark’s hardware reflects longstanding enterprise requests, including speaker-labeled summaries, automatic extraction of to-do items, and searchable historical records.
Industry observers generally agree that while AI recording hardware can be replicated quickly, durable differentiation depends on continued engineering refinement. Improvements in meeting templates, transcription accuracy, and post-processing workflows are likely to matter more than form factor alone.
Here, Lark holds an inherent advantage. The device runs on ByteDance’s Doubao large model, whose multimodal capabilities are widely regarded as competitive within the field. Its ability to parse complex dialogue and generate accurate transcripts directly affects the quality of meeting summaries, creating a technical edge that may be difficult for competitors to match in the near term.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Deng Yongyi for 36Kr.