Humane fell down the drain of AI hype, and legacy tech company HP is here to scrape up whatever is leftover of the AI wearable’s once-ambitions. HP bought up Humane’s CosmOS operating system and IP, including the tech for the AI Pin, for $116 million. The sale means the end for Humane. Unfortunately, for any lingering AI Pin owners, your device will be effectively bricked by Feb. 28.
That $116 million sounds like a lot until you remember Humane was once valued at $850 million. The AI device maker had reportedly sought an initial sale price of closer to $1 billion. At the close of Tuesday’s workday, HP declared it acquired Humane’s OS, its “highly skilled technical talent,” along with its 300 patents and patent applications. Tuan Tran, HP’s former president of the company’s printing arm and new lead on the company’s AI endeavors, said in a release that the buyout would “rapidly accelerate our ability to develop a new generation of devices that seamlessly orchestrate AI requests both locally and in the cloud.” That means HP is looking to develop its own suite of AI-centric devices.
More than that, HP wants to put Humane’s CosmOS operating system into everything, from its PCs to “smart printers and connected conference rooms.” Have you been frustrated by getting your office printer? Imagine it now running with an AI chatbot. Tran told Bloomberg he was impressed most by CosmOS’ ability to use both on-device and cloud-based AI models. That still sounds like the same thing Google, Apple, Microsoft, and every other major tech company is promoting with their latest products. HP simply wants its slice of the pie with proprietary AI technology.
Humane had been looking to sell barely a month after it released its initial product, the AI Pin. Initial reviews found the device was largely ineffective at what it was supposed to do, namely, act as a personal wearable assistant to help you ignore your phone. At launch, the device’s AI was slow to respond and was prone to making mistakes. Humane launched its device in April last year, but over the next few months, it couldn’t move as many devices as it initially intended. Humane later had to recall its charging case, warning it was a possible fire hazard.
With the sale, Humane is no longer selling any more pins. In a message sent to customers, the company said all pins would stop functioning at noon PT, Feb. 28, just 10 days after the sale. A support document details how Humane asks customers to download any stored pictures or videos before the cut-off date. According to an FAQ, the only few features that will continue to work is the ability to ask it about its battery level. Current owners have until Feb. 27 to get a refund; if you want a replacement battery pack, you’ll get a refund for the device instead.
Last October, the AI wearable company pivoted to focus solely on CosmOS as an AI operating system, attempting to license it out to fellow businesses with an SDK. CosmOS promoted its AI agent capabilities, essentially the ability to run multiple AI models to complete complex tasks. The company’s founders promoted how the OS could “remember” previous conversations and activities.
The former Apple staff who headed up Humane, Imran Chaudhri, and Bethany Bongiorno, are moving on to HP. Bloomberg reported that they will head a new division within HP. This will focus on AI for existing devices and likely not any AI-centric wearables. So far, we have yet to encounter an AI-specific device that does anything more than what you can accomplish with your smartphone. That doesn’t mean companies big and small aren’t still trying. We expect to see a slew of AI wearables from Meta and smaller brands this year. We’ll see if enough customers were burned by Humane (literally and figuratively) that they learned their lesson.
