Smartphone competitor fails: HP buys Humane, AI Pin is shut down
With the AI Pin, Humane wanted to end our dependence on screens and replace the smartphone. That failed and the devices are now becoming electronic waste.
(Image: Humane)
One and a half years after the launch of the smartphone alternative AI Pin from US company Humane, the ambitious project has failed: HP will acquire the start-up and most of its employees for 116 million US dollars, while the business unit behind the AI Pin will be closed. The acquired team is to work at HP on integrating AI technology into the company's own device portfolio. This is according to a statement from Humane and US media reports. All AI Pins will continue to function until February 28, after which access to the servers will be cut. Personal data will be deleted and should therefore be backed up beforehand. The devices are no longer available to buy.
Not getting off to a good start
The AI Pin, which has been available to buy since April, was therefore available for less than a year. The device is a small box costing around 700 US dollars that is attached to clothing using a magnet. The holder also contains a battery. The AI-supported smartphone alternative is controlled by voice and gestures, and content is projected onto the palm by a laser projector. Like the communicator from Star Trek, the device could provide access to information as an omnipresent companion and also take photos on demand, for example. The AI Pin was only sold together with a monthly subscription of 24 US dollars, which covered the necessary mobile phone costs, among other things.
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The fact that the AI Pin was not the promised smartphone alternative was already apparent after the first extremely negative tests of the device. Complaints were made that the device accessing ChatGPT did not function reliably and often took a very long time to respond to a request. In several cases, the information provided was simply incorrect, and the recorded videos were not of good quality. In addition, the device, which was attached to the chest, heated up excessively. In late summer, it became known that more AI Pins had been returned than had been sold. There was already speculation about a possible sale to HP at the time.
Humane was founded by two former Apple managers. Imran Chaudhri and his wife Bethany Bongiorno were involved in the development of the iPad. Their big goal for Humane was to make frequent interaction with screens unnecessary thanks to AI. However, their device was unable to achieve this. Popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee, for example, called AI Pin the worst product he had ever tested. As a result, the two quickly looked for a buyer for their start-up and wanted up to one billion US dollars. Humane had raised around 230 million dollars from investors for the development, writes dpa. HP has now only paid just under half that amount.
(mho)
