Claude and ChatGPT just moved into a 2007 Nokia

A developer who goes by emir has put AIKON on GitHub: a chat client for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok that runs on old Java-powered Nokia feature phones. The name is Nokia spelled backwards. It has been tested on the Nokia 6300 and the Nokia E63, and the interface comes in eight languages, Russian included.

A 2007 phone can't talk to these models by itself. A small Go server sits in between, running in Docker on any VPS with a public IP. The phone pairs with it using a six-digit code, and from then on it works like a normal chat: you type on the keypad and the answer shows up on a 240 by 320 screen.

It does more than you'd expect from a brick. You pick the model for each chat and can switch mid-conversation. There's web search for news, weather and exchange rates, done by the server, not by the phone's ancient browser. You can snap a sign and ask for a translation, dictate a 30-second voice message, or ask it to put a dentist appointment into the phone's calendar. Long replies are read page by page.

Running it yourself takes your own server and an API key from at least one provider, and the author says the first setup takes about an hour. For people who don't want to bother, the project site offers a hosted version paid with credits.

Verdict: turns out you don't need a smartphone for AI.