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Humane Inc. (stylized as hu.ma.ne[1]) is an American consumer electronics company founded in 2018 by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno.[2][3] The company designed and developed the Ai Pin, which started shipping in April 2024 but received poor reviews.[4]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, US |
| Products | Ai Pin |
Number of employees | 200 |
| Website | humane |
Humane was founded by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno[5] in 2018; the couple previously worked at Apple Inc.[3] The startup emerged from stealth mode in 2021.[6][7]
By November 2023, the company had raised $230 million,[8] with notable investors such as Marc Benioff, Sam Altman, Tiger Global, SoftBank, Qualcomm, Microsoft, LG, Volvo, and Salesforce. Microsoft and OpenAI also announced partnerships with Humane.[9]
In January 2024, the company laid off 4% of its staff (10 employees).[10]
On May 22, 2024, Bloomberg reported news that Humane was seeking a buyer for its business, initially considering offers in the $750 million to $1 billion range.[11] The New York Times reported that Humane had been in talks with HP.[12]
Ai Pin
The Ai Pin is a wearable device, meant to be attached to the user's shirt at chest level. It is a voice assistant and cellular phone, equipped with a camera, and a limited monochrome "screen" that's projected onto the user's hand on demand. The user mostly interacts with the device through a small touchpad, and also hand gestures when the projection screen is active.[13]
Chaudhri revealed the device and demonstrated its features during a TED Talk in May 2023,[14][15] and it was later showcased at Paris Fashion Week in September.[16] Humane announced the device's name in July 2023.[17][18] It was formally announced on November 9, 2023, and sales started one week later at a price of $699.[12][8] The Ai Pin was featured by Time in its Best 200 Inventions of 2023, which was published before the product was released and without the magazine being provided a review unit for testing.[19] Time's co-chairs, Marc and Lynne Benioff, are investors in Humane.[19]
The device began shipping in April 2024.[4] Despite concerns raised by employees, Humane never hired a head of marketing. The company had hoped for 100,000 sales by the end of the year, but until August only shipped 10,000 units.[12][20]
Reception
The Ai Pin has received generally negative reviews, praising its product design but criticizing the limited battery life and how easily the device overheats in just a few minutes.[21][22] The New York Times reported that due to overheating problems, Humane executives would use ice packs to chill the pin before previewing it to investors or partners.[12]
The Verge wrote, "After many days of testing, the one and only thing I can truly rely on the Ai Pin to do is tell me the time."[21] The review from Inverse stated that it "is slow to answer even basic questions."[22] Fast Company noted that "Almost everything about the pin was a UX disaster for reviewers."[23]
Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee (aka MKBHD) titled his review video of the Ai Pin "The worst product I've ever reviewed". This was one of the more famous reactions reviewers had about the Ai Pin. [24][25]
In response to the criticism, lead Ai Pin engineer Ken Kocienda said that he used the product "all the time" but did find it "frustrating sometimes" in the same way as a laptop or smartphone.[26]
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