Santa's Magical Telephone
Hardware
AI toy telephone
SHOW HN2025
156points
177comments
#459of 3,837 in 2025
Top 12%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
RoastedHalf or more of the comments are critical
13 positive, 23 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 61 critical, out of 97 comments about the project. Thread score -0.38.
Idea: 4 for, 22 againstPricing: 0 for, 24 againstPerformance: 0 for, 5 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 3 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fun and funny; kids enjoy the role-play
From 2 comments
Inference is always getting cheaper, so my hope is that restrictions like this can go away in the future. I totally understand giving it a 'B'. But I promise you that I came at…
Sean-Der on HNBuild it :) It's the most fun I have had in a long time. Building a character and having it sit on your desk and chatter/say things you don't expect. I love absurdism humor. This…
Sean-Der on HN
Congratulations on getting into retail
From 2 comments
Congrats, that must feel awesome to see your work on a shelf! The YouTube video is great! You might want to repost with a new link, the Walmart link is bad (look at the URL)
leakycap on HNCongrats and good work.
mrcwinn on HN
DIY and open-source hackability
From 2 comments
This is an amazing product. I don't have kids yet but I would buy this for them if I did! However, since this is Hacker News, I must say I'd probably enjoy building this myself…
Jaxkr on HNLooks like I just found my next esp32s3 project!
LarsDu88 on HN
Objections
Subscription/time-limited use makes it a brick or e-waste
From 3 comments
Moral implications of LLM aside, this is an always-online, subscription-based toy that will eventually turn into a brick (unless the parent is an HN-er). I find it really sad…
SlackingOff123 on HNJesus Christ, an entire telephone built around about fifteen minutes of novelty, never to be used again. How remarkably irresponsible. Remote bricking when your business…
estimator7292 on HNThis post is eliciting different feelings for me. 1. Congratulations on getting a product into a major chain’s distribution network. That is a feat and is something to be proud…
fathermarz on HN
Child privacy and data collection concerns
From 3 comments
While this looks awesome, a couple concerns here: 1. After 60 minutes, it turns into junk? Or is there a reload feature? 2. Is every Christmas home going to have a Chinese-made…
midnitewarrior on HNOh cool, physical spyware so children can tell you directly what toy companies to invest in and what ad spots to buy. How many marketing companies and toy manufacturers are you…
xerox13ster on HNHow do you ensure 'safety' for kids talking to an LLM?
ugh123 on HN
LLM safety and unpredictability for kids
From 3 comments
I can see how this can be silly/fun for teens or young adults, but I'd never put this in the hands of my kids. LLMs are wild
d--b on HNChatGPT had Santa mode last year where you could talk to Santa using Advanced Voice. I thought it was pretty cool because as adults we're used to turn-based conversation,…
pants2 on HNjust don’t ask Santa if there’s a seahorse emoji
mef on HN
Replaces human interaction and is anti-social
From 2 comments
I really, really hate this. Not only do I generally dislike Christmas as this "Santa Worship", it is cheap plastic, pay to use and generative AI slop. It also could have been…
constantcrying on HNAm I the only one that thinks this is very unwholesome? Giving a simulacrum of human interaction to children who are presumably waay to young to understand [1] that they're…
andrepd on HN
Requests
Cheaper or non-subscription pricing
From 2 comments
If running out of 60 mins turns the device into a brick, that’s an F-. If it can be restored with a flat purchase, that’s a B. If it first degrades gracefully into a toy with a…
Waterluvian on HNWould love to see this connect to a smartphone running a matching app, doing the inferencing on the phone so you wouldn't have to bill for increments. It will be a few more years…
fancy_pantser on HN
Ability to reprogram or connect to own server
From 2 comments
This is such a fun use of AI! Congratulations. If you buy the walmart version, can you connect it to your own pion server?
patapong on HNalready gone. anywhere else to get it? how hard is it to reprogram?
joshu on HN
Questions
What happens after 60 minutes of talk time?
From 2 comments
What happens when you use up the 60 minutes of talk time?
deanputney on HNWhile this looks awesome, a couple concerns here: 1. After 60 minutes, it turns into junk? Or is there a reload feature? 2. Is every Christmas home going to have a Chinese-made…
midnitewarrior on HN
How is child safety ensured with LLMs?
From 1 comment
How do you ensure 'safety' for kids talking to an LLM?
ugh123 on HN
Alternatives named
ChatGPT Santa mode
From 2 comments
Didn’t open AI release a Santa version of ChatGPT around the holidays and make it available over the phone too? Easy way to save $100!
replwoacause on HNChatGPT had Santa mode last year where you could talk to Santa using Advanced Voice. I thought it was pretty cool because as adults we're used to turn-based conversation,…
pants2 on HN
Telstra payphone Santa service in Australia
From 1 comment
This runs (for free) across all payphones in Australia each year: https://www.telstra.com.au/exchange/how-we-re-helping-santa-with-generative-ai My tiny human loves it. I think…
_kb on HN
Sonatino
From 1 comment
I would buy a dev board + build it yourself, you will get a much better experience then trying to reuse the existing thing. I have written implementations target at specific…
Sean-Der on HN