Ex-Apple Employees Create Humane AI Pin That Wants to Replace the iPhone

Founded by renowned industrial designer Imran Chaudhari and software architect Bethany Bongiorno, both alumni of Apple, the Ai Pin by Humane marks a significant leap in the world of ambient gadgets. This innovative device, harnessing the power of generative AI, ambitiously sets out to replace the iPhone. Chaudhari, acclaimed for his pivotal role in crafting the iPhone's interaction model, is recognized as a leading inventor of the last two decades. His partner in both life and business, Bongiorno, also contributed significantly to the development of the iPad. Together, they departed Apple to establish Humane, a venture brimming with former Apple experts, including Ken Kochinda, the brains behind the iPhone's virtual keyboard and auto-correct feature.

Retailing at $699, this compact clip, echoing the communicator badges from Star Trek: The Next Generation, operates on voice commands. It is designed to answer questions, summarise texts, translate languages in real-time, replicate intonations in responses, play music, and even capture photographs. Moreover, it can project a user interface onto the palm of your hand and is operated through gestures. This functionality is driven by a smart microphone and a personic speaker, and the device connects to an MVNO network through T-Mobile, incurring an additional monthly charge of $24 atop its purchase price.

Humane's leading investors include Sam Altman, CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, Marc Benioff, co-founder of Salesforce, and the venture capital divisions of Qualcomm and Google, with Microsoft also participating in funding. Following a robust fundraising round of $230 million, the startup's valuation stands at an impressive $850 million.

The Ai Pin's vision is elegantly straightforward: to offer an ambient computing experience devoid of screens. Its camera can identify what you're eating, be it almonds or a dragonfruit, informing you of the calorie count and monitoring your dietary intake. The device can stream music from TiDal and is so advanced that it can suggest cover songs by famous artists. Its voice assistant, far more sophisticated than Google Assistant or Siri, benefits from the integration of AI technologies from OpenAI and Microsoft.

The device attaches magnetically to clothing, with its battery also serving as a magnet that can be swapped out as needed, suggesting the possibility of a continuous power supply. The Ai Pin is roughly the same weight as a tennis ball.

Eschewing traditional apps for AI services, the Ai Pin presents a fascinating and potentially polarizing advancement. If the smartphone's inception was inspired by William Shatner's Captain Kirk using his communicator in the 1960s, the Ai Pin heralds a new era, akin to the communicators used in Star Trek: The Next Generation from the 1980s. However, its success in a market accustomed to apps and screens remains to be seen.

Despite these questions, the Ai Pin distinguishes itself as an exceptional wearable, equipped with the processing power of an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, rivaling that found in smartphones. It operates on Cosmo, a novel OS derived from Android's open-source elements. The future of this cutting-edge device, challenging the dominance of the smartphone, is eagerly anticipated.