[kleiba]

I don't remember the exact details either but I believe this is it. Thanks for digging it up.

Now, wouldn't that constitute prior art wrt. the patent application?

[webmaven]

Yeah, the origin story described sounds like Replika's.

In case Verge's story isn't the right one, here is another from Quartz that might be the coverage you remember:

https://classic.qz.com/machines-with-brains/1018126/lukas-re...