A tech startup in San Francisco that raised $230 million has closed up shop after receiving a slew of terrible reviews.
Wearable AI pin startup Humane is closing and selling off its software, patents, and employees to HP Inc, according to a report in SFGATE.
Humane said in a press release on Tuesday that the HP deal will close at the end of February.
The company — which promised to “fundamentally reshape the role of technology in people's lives” — drew high-profile Silicon Valley investors including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Salesforce's Marc Benioff.
Humane’s product was a wearable pin — called the “Ai Pin” that allowed users to ask questions and give voice commands to an AI assistant running via the accessory.
Investors had reportedly valued Humane at $850 million, according to The Information.
The device’s performance apparently failed to match the hype that had built around it in the tech world. A November 2023 launch video showed the pin making strange mistakes, and users who bought the device reportedly had similar issues.
The company reportedly expected the blow back; according to a report by The New York Times, Humane's founders warned its employees to “brace themselves” for bad reviews.
Those fears were justified.
In one video review, posted by YouTuber Marques Brownlee, he described the pin as being “bad at almost everything it does, basically all the time.” That review racked up 8.5 million views and its title — “The Worst Product I've Ever Reviewed .... For Now” was unambiguous in its disdain for Humane's pin.
Reviews in print weren't much better. A headline in The Verge said the pin was “not even close” to being a good product, describing it as a “phone without a screen.”
Their conclusion after using the pin?
“I’ll take my phone back now, thanks,” reviewer David Pierce wrote.
Wired had a similar take, calling the pin “too bare-bones and not all that useful.”
Humane and HP reportedly began discussing a sale shortly after the first reviews were went live, according to a New York Times report. HP will pay $116 million for Humane's staff, it's software, and more than 300 patents and patent applications.
“Humane’s AI platform Cosmos, backed by an incredible group of engineers, will help us create an intelligent ecosystem across all HP devices from AI PCs to smart printers and connected conference rooms,” HP's president of technology and innovation, Tuan Tran said in a statement.
With the end of Humane as a company will also come the end of service for the pins on February 28, meaning anyone who spent the $499 or $699 to buy one will soon be left with little more than an odd-looking lapel accessory. All user data will be permanently deleted when the service ends.
“We are writing to inform you that, effective immediately, we are winding down the consumer Ai Pin as our business priorities have shifted,” Humane wrote in a post announcing the pin's end of service. “Your engagement has meant the world to us, and we deeply appreciate the role you’ve played in our innovation journey.”
Humane will be providing some refunds, but only on pins bought on or after November 15. It suggested users left with the useless pins to “recycle your Ai Pin through an e-waste recycling program.”
