Ah, a peaceful day on the golf course: beautifully manicured greens, a gentle breeze, and ... a robotic caddie chasing after you with advice?
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A new AI-powered, self-driving golf trolley, known as Ixi, will follow you from hole to hole, offering recommendations and realtime performance analysis, per CNN.
The roving digital caddie is part of a rapidly growing trend of AI-powered golf equipment — a trend expected to send an estimated $20.9B market sailing onto the green of $26.7B by 2031.
Ace in the hole
Developed by Belgian startup Botronics with design studio Futurewave, the Ixi trolley offers features beyond even the latest electric follow trolleys:
- Two cameras and GPS pre-loaded with 40K+ course maps to automatically navigate
- Controlled by hand gestures or voice commands
- Camera records and plays back swings, providing frame-by-frame analysis that can be shared with coaches
- Screen offers suggestions for club selection and where to aim with real-time visualization
- Front camera detects when putter is removed from bag and trolley will preemptively roll to the next tee
Sadly, there's no beer tap or Einstein putter.
The trolley — currently in advanced prototype phase — will retail for $5,385 with an expected July 2027 release. Discounts were offered to supporters of a ~$1M crowdfund campaign — 125 trolleys were pre-ordered in the first 10 minutes.
AI on the fairway
Golf is seeing an unprecedented rise in popularity, following a pandemic resurgence.
- Over 48M Americans played golf in 2025 — a 41% increase from 2019
- The period saw a net increase of 14M on- and off-course players — thanks to an increase of indoor virtual simulators and driving ranges
More casual players are driving demand for gadgets, and the Ixi trolley is far from the first time AI has rolled onto the green.
- Wilson Fit AI app helps staff choose the best clubs for customers.
- Sportsbox AI converts videos of swings into 3D models to provide real-time, corrective feedback.
- Swee analyzes golf swings and provides personalized practice plans.
- Arccos’ Smart Laser Rangefinder uses GPS positioning, live weather syncing, and detailed mapping to create a strategy for each shot.
Now, if only there were an AI-powered device to pour you a cold beer on the back nine...
