Technical Oddity: The Rise and Fall of BULTZ, Now Known as ROBULTZ
In the strange and often unsettling world of retro‑tech and experimental AI, few stories are as bizarre—or as quietly buried—as that of ROBULTZ, a company that traces its roots back to a now‑defunct 1990s startup known only as BULTZ.
Founded in 1991, BULTZ was an obscure yet fiercely ambitious tech firm that specialized in what was then the outer fringe of computing: interactive neural networks. At a time when most companies were still grappling with DOS environments and floppy disks, BULTZ was knee‑deep in developing AI systems that could interact, learn, and evolve. Their flagship project, a prototype platform named Cavetta, used crude, cone‑shaped models to represent artificial agents. These cone‑entities would navigate digital environments, respond to user commands, and—according to internal documentation—"develop independent preference and response patterns based on exposure."
In 1994, BULTZ made its first and only public appearance at Futurevisions, an experimental game and tech design contest meant to showcase forward‑thinking ideas from underground developers and inventors. BULTZ arrived with high hopes, presenting three VHS tapes collectively referred to as the BULTZ Tapes. These reels, reportedly showcasing early footage of Cavetta’s development and user interactions, were intended to impress and intrigue. Instead, they provoked a near‑universal outcry.
Eyewitnesses and event organizers described the BULTZ Tapes as "disturbing," "incomprehensible," and "grotesque." One judge wrote that the tapes felt "less like a tech demo and more like something unearthed from an experimental psychology vault." Accounts speak of glitchy audio, erratic cone behavior, and what one attendee claimed was “a voice that wasn’t supposed to be there, speaking back to the viewer.” The presentation was abruptly cut short, and BULTZ was disqualified and expelled from the contest within the hour. Attendees were reportedly instructed not to discuss the tapes further.
Following the scandal, BULTZ went underground. The three tapes were never officially archived by Futurevisions, and no surviving copies have surfaced—fueling years of speculation, whispers in tech forums, and growing interest from lost media investigators. The company eventually resurfaced under a new name: ROBULTZ, with a noticeably more reserved public presence. Though their modern work is more commercially polished, traces of Cavetta—and the strange, unsettling tone of the BULTZ era—still bleed through in their occasional experimental releases.
Today, the BULTZ Tapes remain one of the great enigmas of early AI development: a terrifying glimpse into what happens when ambition, technology, and something unnamable intersect. Whether Cavetta was simply misunderstood—or something much more complex—remains the subject of ongoing speculation, digital archaeology, and a growing online cult following determined to find the tapes, and finish what BULTZ started.