Humane ditches AI Pin in $116 million HP deal

HP is acquiring Humane for $116 million, but its core product, the AI Pin, is being discontinued. Launched in 2024, the badge-like device was a commercial and critical failure. The price is considerably lower than the company anticipated, where it was originally pitched at $750 million to $1 billion.

While HP will absorb most of Humane’s employees, it won’t integrate its hardware business into the deal. HP has been positioned as the potential buyer for some time, with the staff forming a group within HP dubbed HP IQ. This is to push an “AI innovation lab focused on building an intelligent ecosystem across HP’s products and services for the future of work.”

HP will still acquire the CosmOS operating system (OS) that’s embedded within the Humane pin. In December, Humane posted a video of what they envisioned for the OS, including embedding it into cars and other smart devices.

The Humane AI Pin launched with multiple technical issues, including not being able to recognize the name Beyoncè due to the accented e. At some point in 2024, returns outweighed sales considerably, as users ditched the idea quite rapidly.

There was also a risk of fire, which the company warned its users to stop using its included charging case.

Now, HP and Humane have told the few existing users that the device will stop working altogether by the end of the month. This coincides with when the deal is supposed to close. On February 28, at noon PST (3 pm EST), the device will cease functioning, effectively leaving it as a fancy Star Trek-looking paperweight.

Unlike the Rabbit R1, another dedicated AI device that catastrophically failed, it doesn’t look like the Humane Pin has a hacking scene. It was quickly discovered that the R1 ran a fork of Android and could be manipulated around that. However, with the high price and lack of access, the pin might not be resurrected.

Featured image: Wikicommons, Humane

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