AI Pin: Allegedly more returns than sales

The AI Pin from Humane was supposed to give users a taste for using devices and artificial intelligence in a whole new way. However, the small box, which is magnetically attached to clothing and controlled by voice, is apparently running into increasingly difficult waters. According to alleged internal documents, more devices have been returned than sold in recent months.

The current development is leading to increasing unrest within the company and personnel changes in management positions, reports the US IT news site The Verge. The AI Pin published in April was launched to great acclaim. Well-known Silicon Valley executives, including OpenAI boss Sam Altman, invested a total of around 200 million US dollars in the start-up, according to media reports. Humane was founded by former Apple designers Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Biongiorno.

Old devices cannot be reused

According to the figures available to The Verge, Humane has so far only been able to deliver around 10,000 pins instead of the 100,000 devices hoped for in the first year. A company spokesperson did not want to comment on this in detail and only spoke of "inaccuracies". According to The Verge, the high return rate has a particularly negative impact as Humane is unable to reuse returned devices. This is due to the company's US mobile communications partner T-Mobile. Apparently, the device's mobile module cannot be reset in order to continue using it with a new user. None of the parties involved wanted to comment on this.

The AI Pin, which costs around 700 US dollars, received mostly scathing reviews. Reviewers complained in particular that the device, which uses ChatGPT, did not work reliably and often took a very long time to respond to requests. Humane is now negotiating the raising of outside capital, according to media reports. A sale to HP is also being discussed. There have also been various changes to the management team.

(mki)