Engram is a sampler that turns broken AI hallucinations into music

Music startup Thoughtful Things has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its first instrument, Engram, a sampler and groovebox that uses AI to mangle incoming audio and hallucinate completely new sounds. It focuses on experimental, uncanny audio and pushing AI audio models beyond their limits rather than generating push-button commercial songs. Engram operates locally without internet connection, running a custom-trained tiny AI model built exclusively on open datasets containing commercially licensed audio. The company also plans to open up Engram's firmware, allowing others to tweak it or load custom models. Thoughtful Things is launching with a limited run starting at $675 for the Kickstarter campaign, with retail prices expected between $850 and $900.