Humane may have found the lifeline it needs to save its business.
According to rumors, the makers of the ill-received AI Pin are in talks with Hewlett-Packard (HP) to purchase Humane for $1 billion. This news comes from The New York Times, which is citing three people familiar with the matter. This rumor is also in line with earlier news that Humane is searching for a buyer and values its business between $750 million and $1 billion.
The AI Pin, Humane's only product, received scathing reviews upon its release earlier this year. Many reviewers excoriated the Pin's abysmal performance, lackluster feature set, and terrible battery life. The Pin was also flogged for its issues with overheating, both during use and while charging. This problem prompted Humane to advise owners of the Pin to stop charging the device in its battery case, as the case poses a potential fire hazard.
Humane raised over $240 million in funding from investors such as Sam Altman (the CEO of OpenAI) to develop a product that would disrupt the smartphone industry and bring AI to the masses. The company developed the AI Pin after roughly five years of development, failing to live up to expectations. According to two people related to Pin sales, Humane received only about 10,000 orders for the AI wearable in April, placing revenue somewhere between $7-8 million.
Inside sources claim that Humane entered talks with HP about a week after the initial reviews were published. Other buyers are also being considered, although The New York Times states these "talks have been casual and no formal sales process has begun."
Keep in mind that these rumors are just that, and should be taken with a grain of salt.
With new developments in artificial intelligence, companies are rushing to pump out products that ease access to AI. However, most have been disappointing. A competitor to Humane's AI Pin, the Rabbit R1 was heavily criticized as a glorified app wrapped in plastic that could run on a smartphone (like the Pixel 8, curr. available at Amazon for $549), and Google's latest AI implementation in its search engine gave confusing, incorrect, or potentially dangerous results.
It seems the AI-powered future many companies have promised still needs a bit more time in the oven.
Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! Wanted:
- News Writer (Romania based)
Details here