The hardware startup Humane announced on Tuesday that most of its assets have been acquired by HP for $116 million. The company will immediately stop selling its AI Pin, which is priced at $499, and will cease support for existing devices on February 28, 2025.
In a blog post, Humane stated that the AI Pin will be unable to connect to servers after that date, preventing calls, messages, AI queries, or access to cloud services. The company advises users to transfer important data to external devices immediately and announced the dissolution of the AI Pin customer support team on the same day.
Humane was founded by former Apple employees Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri, and had raised over $230 million, launching the AI Pin in April 2024 in an attempt to replace smartphones. However, the product performed poorly, with early reviews and user feedback being disappointing. According to The Verge, last summer, the return rate of the AI Pin exceeded its sales. The company also faced issues with battery fire risks, urging users to stop using the charging case, and reduced the price of the AI Pin by $200 in October.
According to the acquisition announcement, HP will absorb Humane's engineers and product managers to form the HP IQ team, focusing on building an ecosystem of AI products and services. HP will also acquire some of Humane's technology, including its CosmOS AI operating system (which has been demonstrated to run on car entertainment systems, smart speakers, TVs, and Android phones) for integration into its personal computers and printers.
Bloomberg previously reported that Humane was seeking to sell itself for between $750 million and $1 billion in May 2024.
