(Credit: Eric Zeman/PCMag)
The Humane AI Pin was made to free people from their smartphones, but in the wake of lackluster reviews for the $699 device, the company is reportedly looking to sell.
The company has hired a financial advisor to assist with the sale and is looking for between $750 million and $1 billion, Bloomberg reports.
Humane was last valued at $850 million, according to The Information. At the time, Humane's wearable AI device was still in development but showed some promise. It raised $230 million and counts AI personalities like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as investors.
(Credit: Eric Zeman/PCMag)In theory, the Humane AI Pin is a neat idea. It's worn on the user's shirt and projects images onto their hand. The Pin can field phone calls and answer questions à la Google Assistant or Siri. After months of hype, the device started shipping in March 2024.
Unfortunately, its lofty ideals didn't translate to real-life usage. Reviews found it to be slow and it frequently responded to questions by saying it didn't have that information yet. In a hands-on at MWC, we found that "it took a moment to answer" when asked about things to do in Barcelona.
Humane was founded in 2018 by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, who previously worked at Apple and envisioned the AI Pin as something that could rival the iPhone. It faces some competition, mostly notably from the Rabbit R1, which also received middling reviews.