This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.
OSOM, a company born from the downfall of Andy Rubin’s (the founder of Android) Essential in 2020, is set to shutter operations later this week.
The once-promising company, which is an acronym for “Out of Sight, Out of Mind,” debuted with the OV1, an Android device that was tainted by its Crypto backing in 2022, followed by a privacy cable that allowed users to enable/disable USB data transmission with a switch. However, recently, the privacy-focused product maker’s own secrets haven’t remained private, and a report earlier this week revealed the tale of embezzlement committed by OSOM’s CEO Jason Keats.
Following the reported embezzlement veil being lifted, Mishaal Rahman, in a report Android Authority, suggested that the company is shutting down operations later this week, with its wallet drying up being the primary reason.
For starters, OSOM’s OV1 failed to gain traction, but the company’s partnership with Solana served as a lifeline, helping fund the device’s mass production that later came to be known as the Solana Saga. However, the partnership with Solana eventually soured, and in March this year, the crypto giant decided not to renew its partnership with OSOM for the development of Saga 2.
Strapped for cash, the company reportedly tried to pivot into the camera market by developing an AI-powered camera (likely a security camera, but we’re not certain), and even tried selling itself to HP, but both efforts proved unsuccessful. Alas, execs at OSOM made the hard decision to cease operations.
Unnamed sources cited by Android Authority indicate that the decision was conveyed to employees yesterday, Tuesday, September 3, and that Friday, September 6, would be their last day at OSOM. The report also notes that a few engineers will remain on board as contractors to fulfill a security update obligation for the Saga 1, which will go out in December, but a majority would be laid off with severance and COBRA Continuation Coverage.
Source link
