Iconic artist will.i.am has quietly spent the last decade establishing himself as a formidable tech founder, humanitarian, and educator. At CES this year, will.i.am continued to model inspired leadership and relentless creative inspiration through a multitude of product and platform launches, while simultaneously educating youth.
As a founding equity stakeholder in Beats Electronics (Beats by Dre), he was instrumental in transforming the company into a global electronics brand, later selling to Apple in 2014 for $3B. Now, he’s showcasing a portfolio of AI-driven products and a bold philosophy on the agentic era that challenges the C-suite and entrepreneurs alike to rethink the relationship between human and machine. On this new world of AI, will.i.am wants everyone to become educated so they can reach new heights, “Audacity, ambition, tenacity and fearlessness, to dream to the highest level and materialize at the speed of imagination now that we have the tools that we have.” He also urges leadership to be thoughtful about all of those impacted before taking steps. “There’s gonna be a level five company where there’s one chairman, one employee, and the company’s worth hundreds of billions of dollars with one employee and nothing but agents. That has more money than millions of people. We have to be delicate.” will.i.am stresses that the technology can make people a great deal of wealth, that seeing the big picture is critical.
“You can’t lead with greed. You can’t do that with this new technology. We gotta make sure people are alright.”
LG collaboration on updated line of xboom by will.i.am AI speakers
A New Paradigm for Consumer Electronics
will.i.am’s presence at CES was defined by a series of high-level strategic partnerships, most notably with LG and Qualcomm, featuring a futuristic new concept vehicle, a reimagined line of audio products, an AI companion device, and new collaborative AI platform, FYI, or “Focus Your Ideas,” a web 3.0 AI messenger and productivity tool to help revolutionize the way creators create, collaborate, and monetize content.
will.i.am opened up about the arduous process of aligning so many launches at the conference, suggesting that it was no small feat to finish each product and also prepare all the websites, videos, and marketing assets in time. “At some point in time in December, I felt like quitting. Because it was so heavy, It felt really heavy. And I’m so happy that we pushed through it.” The LG collaboration featured an updated line of “xboom by will.i.am” speakers with integrated AI-driven settings and intelligence, and the ”boombag”—a fusion of high-fashion materials and high-performance sound. Comparing it to a Hermès bag but for audio, will.i.am collaborated with legendary designer Jeff Staples to create a fashion-forward product with an integrated passive speaker as a wearable, collectible item.
Central to these devices is two-way conversational FYI.RAiDiO. The platform utilizes an AI host capable of juggling music, web crawling, and reasoning, encouraging what will.i.am calls “leaning in and engaging.” This technology has already scaled beyond consumer electronics; through a partnership with Qualcomm, FYI.RAiDiO has also been integrated onto the Snapdragon chip, positioning it for implementation into luxury vehicles.
Getting ahead of major manufacturers that have leaked upcoming AI companion devices, will.i.am and Qualcomm also launched MÖFO (Modular Omni Function Operator), sculpted to look almost like a figurine, that’s built to be a living interface and agentic companion that moves away from the traditional app-based smartphone model, with voice commands and physical touch sensors replacing screens and menus. The device features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is optimized for edge AI processing.
Perhaps his most ambitious project is the Trinity, a 2,000-lb, carbon fiber vehicle that looks better than those in futuristic Tron movies, built in collaboration with West Coast Customs. Capable of 0 to 60 mph in under 2 seconds, the car features an agentic core. Inspired by the manufacturing efficiency he witnessed in global hubs like Shenzhen, he is raising funds to manufacture the Trinity in America. His ultimate goal is to create local sites that not only build high-end electronics but also serve as educational hubs for robotics and agentic systems within communities. will.i.am pushed for everyone to believe in their dreams and make them a reality,
“LG has a lot of products. They’re like hundreds of billions of dollars. We’re like 30 people? With four products? In four different companies’ booths? Yo, bro, ain’t no excuse. You can do whatever dream you got, you can manifest.”
The Trinity, a 2,000-lb auto built in collaboration with West Coast Customs. Capable of 0 to 60 mph in under 2 seconds and features an agentic core.
Teaching Ethics in the Agentic Era
As a newly appointed professor of practice at Arizona State University’s games + arts + media + engineering (GAME) School, will.i.am is tackling the workforce implications of AI head-on with his course, The Agent Itself. The curriculum focuses on teaching students how to build their own AI agents, with a heavy emphasis on ethics and moral compass. He warns that we are currently in a self-regulated era where agents are replacing human roles without the benefit of lived experiences or diplomas. His mission is to ensure that, when students graduate, their personal agents, powered by Nvidia GPUs, possess the same core values as their human counterparts. In addition to his newfound Professorhood, will.i.am helped to execute a large STEAM robotics program in Los Angeles that serves over 15,000 students across 400 public schools
A Call for Responsible Leadership
Reflecting on the deeper meaning of our current AI moment, will.i.am notes that while AI is excellent at regurgitating imagination, it cannot dream. In reference to how hyperactivity and ADHD have positively impacted his success and will help people remain relevant in an AI-dominated world, he said: “That hyperactivity is what’s gonna make people AI-proof. AI is awesome, right? But you know how much energy it takes to power these models? I got more energy. 12 watts of power powers my neural network. And AI is not imagining. It’s just regurgitating imagination. We are the dreamers of the dream,” a reference to poet Arthur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy, emphasizing that while AI can process data, it cannot replace human inspiration. will.i.am’s message to the C-suite and all of us is clear: Innovation must be tempered with responsibility. “It cannot be led by greed,” he says, urging leaders and the public alike to fight for protections that ensure communities remain intact, creative, and caring—regardless of where AI takes us.
