Humane AI Pin is a disaster: founders already want to sell the company

Startup Humane, creator of the quirky Humane AI Pin, is already looking for a way out. Bloomberg reports that the company is looking for a sale after the launch of its first and only product was a huge failure. Even though there’s seemingly nothing else in the pipeline and AI Pin isn’t functional upon delivery, Bloomberg reports that the company “expects to sell for a price of between $750 million and $1 billion.” Humane was founded by two former Apple employees, Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, in 2018 and has raised $230 million from several high-profile investors, such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

The Humane AI pin immediately seemed like an idea that only made sense in a VC pitch room. The device is a portable voice command panel and camera that magnetically attaches to your shirt, reminiscent of the communicator from Star Trek. It wanted to replace your smartphone, but it didn’t have a traditional display, and the company boasted in its launch video: “We don’t make apps.” This means that you mainly have voice commands for anything that the voice command system can process. You can press front and ask a question. The camera may also be involved in the question “What is this?” capacity.

Although there was no display on board, it was equipped with a single-color 720p laser projection system that projected onto the hand. The user interface looked like a smartwatch and was controlled by the same hand you use as a projection screen. You can tilt your hand to select something and tap your fingers to confirm, all the while distorting and moving the “display” projected onto your palm. The smartwatch-style user interface begs the question, “Why not wear a smartwatch instead?” You’d then have real apps, a real display, a less weird case, better input, and better voice commands, and it would probably cost less. Oh yes, about that price: The Humane AI Pin was $700 plus the subscription fee is $24 per month, and the Apple Watch Series 9 costs $400.

Apart from all these “paper” problems, the device was also widely appreciated once it was in the hands of reviewers. The device consists of two halves, with a front processor and a rear battery, and the side is magnetically connected to the shirt in the middle. It turns out that a shirt is not a good base for a rather heavy device, and it also takes off a lot of lighter clothes. Like all projector-based displays, a laser projector does not perform well outside a dark room. The voice response time is really slow and the device is constantly warm, which is a strange feeling when pressed against your chest. Battery life is two to four hours. He cannot perform many basic tasks, such as setting an alarm or timer. Review conclusions range from “not even close” by The Verge to “worst product I’ve ever reviewed” by Marques Brownlee.

No one knows what the company’s sales were like, but AI Pin didn’t start shipping until April. The fact that the founders are seeking an exit just a month after the launch sounds quite scary. It’s hard to imagine a worse timeline of events, and it’s hard to imagine someone paying $750 million for a company that appears to be throwing money away. Don’t be surprised if history places Humane on the list of “biggest tech startup failures in history” alongside companies like Juicero and Ouya.