More people are returning to that horrible

“AI Pin” than are buying it.

 

 

17/8/2024,

According to all accounts, Humane’s AI Pin’s tech startup debut was a total flop.

This $699 gadget, designed to be a magnetically attachable personal assistant in an attempt to capitalise on the excitement about artificial intelligence, was a complete bust. This product was the “worst product” tech YouTuber Marques “MKBHD” Brownlee had ever reviewed. According to other evaluations, Humane had significantly oversold the tiny device’s capabilities, and it was useless. Did we also mention that it has an absurdly short battery life?

In case you were curious, there is still much room for improvement on the project. Internal data obtained by The Verge reveals that, between May and August, a significantly higher proportion of customers returned their AI Pins than bought them.

This is a serious charge that will probably make potential rivals think twice before launching a product that is similar to the AI Pin.

A gloomy picture of Humane’s financial destiny is painted by the numbers. Only about 8,000 units had not yet been returned between May and August. Since then, the total number of AI Pins that consumers still own has decreased to almost 7,000.

Last Week, the Information also revealed that the startup is negotiating with its investors to raise debt, to later turn it into equity. In June, the New York Times reported that computer and printer company HP was in acquisition talks with Humane.

Humane has brought in just over $9 million in lifetime sales, according to the Verge. That’s despite raising over $200 million from major Silicon Valley juggernauts including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Over the past few months, the company has lost several important personnel, including its vice president of engineering and director of user experience.

A representative for Humane, Zoz Cuccias, told the Verge that “we continue to build an incredibly talented and deeply experienced team” and that the company is “committed to unlocking a new era of ambient and contextual computing.” Humane says that the AI Pin was its first attempt at an AI-enabled smart assistant.

Even with Humane’s hardware problems fixed (poor battery life, sluggish processing, overheating, and a poor projector that shows information on the wearer’s palm, for example), there are still concerns about whether AI chatbots, with their persistent “hallucinations,” will ever be able to offer the kind of functionality that Humane has in mind.