What Happened to Eternos, and What Families Can Use Instead (2026)
Eternos was the company behind one of the most-read stories in this category: Michael Bommer, terminally ill, spending about 25 hours recording himself so that his wife could keep talking with a voice that sounded like his. It was covered everywhere in 2024. In November 2025 the company changed direction, not a shutdown, a pivot, and the legacy product families read about is no longer what it sells. This page explains what happened, what it means if you were counting on Eternos, and what actually serves that purpose now. We build one of the alternatives, and we say so when we get to it.
Last checked: 11 September 2026.
What Eternos was
Founded in 2024 by Robert LoCascio, formerly the CEO of LivePerson, Eternos built a conversational model of a living person from their own recordings, voice and life story together, so that family could talk with it later. Its "Human Life Model" was the technical core; the recordings were the material. The model was record-first and consent-first: the person themselves sat down and talked, for hours. That is, in our view, still the right way to do it when there is time.
What happened, in order
- 2024: Eternos launches; the Bommer story runs in major outlets.
- 11 November 2025: TechCrunch reports the pivot: the company becomes Uare.ai, raises a $10.3 million seed round led by Mayfield and Boldstart Ventures, and repositions the same technology as a personal AI for creators and professionals, "you own the model, and you can share it and monetize it." The founder's stated reason: most people considering the legacy service were not, in fact, preparing for death.
- 11 September 2026: eternos.life redirects (301) to uare.ai. The Uare.ai homepage describes an AI "built by you and for you" for creators, business owners, coaches and writers. It does not mention legacy, memorial, the deceased, or preserving a loved one's voice.
What we could not find: any public statement about what happens to families who built a legacy model with Eternos, or a pricing page for the old product. If you are one of those families, the FAQ below says what to ask for.
How MemoAgent works, export included →
Why this is different from HereAfter, and why it matters anyway
HereAfter AI closed. Eternos did not; it found a bigger market and went there. For a family the outcome is similar, the product you read about is not on offer, but the lesson is different. HereAfter teaches: insist on export. Eternos teaches: the memorial use case is small, and a technology company can outgrow it. When you choose a platform, ask not only "can I export?" but "is this what the company is for?" A memorial product that is a side project of a productivity company will be the first thing cut.
What families can use instead
It depends on which Eternos you wanted.
If the person is still here
The Eternos model, a living person records their own story, is served today by interview-first products. MemoAgent's A Voice for Generations is a guided interview in the person's own voice, in Hebrew or English, that becomes a written story, a narrated album and a persona that speaks in their style. StoryFile's consumer product records video answers to be replayed later; we compared it in the StoryFile page.
If the person has already passed
Eternos never really served this case, it needed the person in the room. The platforms that do build from what the family kept: photos with their stories, voice notes, WhatsApp exports. MemoAgent builds a persona you can talk with from those materials, with a reconstructed voice if a few minutes of audio exist, and a living album beside it. You Only Virtual and 2wai work from messages and video respectively; the trade-offs of each are in the alternatives guide and the platform comparison.
The question to ask any of them
Three, actually. Can I export everything, in open formats, on every plan? Is memorial the company's business, or a feature? And does the persona always say it is AI? MemoAgent's answers are on our ethics page and privacy page, in writing; we think every platform in this category owes its users the same three answers, in writing.
FAQ
Did Eternos shut down?
Not in the usual sense. In November 2025 the company rebranded as Uare.ai, raised a $10.3 million seed round, and repositioned its technology as a personal AI for creators and professionals. As of 11 September 2026, eternos.life redirects to uare.ai, and the Uare.ai site does not mention legacy, memorial or preserving a loved one's voice at all.
What happens to families who built an Eternos legacy model?
We could not find a public statement about existing legacy customers. If you are one, write to the company and ask two things in one email: whether the model and recordings remain accessible, and how to receive a full export, audio, transcripts, photos, in open formats. Do it now, not when you need it.
Is Uare.ai a memorial product?
No. It builds an AI representation of a living person for their own use, content, customer interactions, projects. The technology overlaps with what Eternos did; the purpose does not. A family looking for a memorial should look elsewhere, and this page lists where.
Which alternative is closest to what Eternos offered?
Eternos built a voice-cloned conversational model from a living person's own recordings. The closest matches today are interview-first products for a living person (MemoAgent's "A Voice for Generations", StoryFile's consumer product) and, for someone already gone, platforms that build a persona from what the family kept: MemoAgent, You Only Virtual, 2wai. The comparison is in the alternatives guide linked below.
Their voice does not have to stop
From the photos, recordings and messages the family already has, a persona you can talk with, speaking in their style and their voice. One-week free trial, no credit card.
Start a memorial for free