Humane AI Pin Devices to Go Offline as HP Buys Struggling Startup’s Assets

The Humane AI Pin wearable, which took the world by storm in late 2023 with its promises to completely reinvent how humans interact with AI, has officially been discontinued and all devices sold so far will cease to work on February 28. After launching to disastrously bad reviews in April 2024, the $699 (approximately ₹60,715) device failed to find much traction and largely disappeared from public conversation. Fewer than 10,000 devices were sold between April and August 2024, according to the company, with returns reportedly outpacing new sales. 

Early adopters and any customer who purchased a Humane AI Pin more than 90 days ago will not receive any refund even though the device went on sale less than a year ago. Users have been given only 10 days’ notice to retrieve all their data from the company’s servers, which will go offline and be wiped out on February 28. All online functions will also cease to work at that time. Users have been paying a $24 (approximately ₹2,085) subscription per month to use the device, in addition to its upfront cost. Offline features, of which the company cites only checking the device’s battery level as an example, will continue to work.

All pending orders have been cancelled and sales have been stopped immediately. The company has also cancelled plans to ship a replacement charging case to buyers, which it had announced it would do in October 2024 after a recall due to concerns about it overheating. All customer support will also be withdrawn after February 28.

The company’s intellectual property assets and staff have now been acquired by HP for $116 million, and will form a new division called HP IQ, tasked with building an AI-enhanced ecosystem to connect HP’s workforce-focused products and services. 

The Humane AI Pin was never launched in India, despite the company saying it had plans to do so, while excitement about it was running high. The company’s prospects were dashed almost as soon as the first reviews were published, with journalists and analysts calling it a disaster. It was criticised for being slow, difficult to use, and providing nothing of value over and above existing devices. It also overheated and suffered from poor battery life.

Humane’s $116 million sale price is far less than the $1 billion that Humane was reportedly hoping to be bought out for. The transaction is expected to be approved by US authorities and finalised by the end of February. Humane, founded by former Apple design and engineering executives, was valued at $850 million in late 2023. It raised $230 million in early funding from industry luminaries and venture capital firms including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Tiger Global, SoftBank, Qualcomm, and Microsoft.

In a press statement, Tuan Tran, President of Technology and Innovation at HP, said "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. This will unlock new levels of functionality for our customers and deliver on the promises of AI."