Furby (1998-2016)

Tiger Electronics Furby

🥇First Commercially-Successful AI-Powered Toy 

The Furby, launched in October 1998, was a groundbreaking electronic toy that combined the virtual pet craze with advanced computing to become a massive holiday shopping phenomenon. Standing about six inches tall with a motorized beak, blinking eyes, and expressive ears, the original Furby used a clever internal system of gears and sensors to react to touch, sound, and light. Its most famous trick was its ability to "learn." When first unboxed, it spoke only its own gibberish language called "Furbish." However, it was programmed to gradually mix more and more English into its vocabulary over time, creating the illusion that it was growing up and developing its own personality. The toy was so convincing that the National Security Agency (NSA) actually banned Furbies from its offices in 1999, out of a hilariously mistaken fear that the toys were secret recording devices eavesdropping on classified government conversations.

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