On Tuesday, HP announced its acquisition of the hardware startup Humane for $116 million. As part of this development, Humane will immediately cease the sale of its $499 AI Pin devices. Customers who have already purchased the AI Pins have been notified that their devices will become inoperative by 12 PM PST on February 28, 2025, as stated in a company blog post.
After this deadline, the AI Pins will no longer be able to connect to Humane’s servers, rendering them unable to facilitate calls, send messages, process AI queries or responses, or access the cloud. The company is advising owners of the AI Pin to promptly transfer their important photos and data to an external device.
Additionally, Humane plans to dissolve its customer support team for the AI Pin on February 28.
This announcement marks the end of the brief existence of the hardware startup that captured attention in April 2024. Humane initially launched the AI Pin, which it marketed as an alternative to smartphones. Founded by former Apple employees Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri, the Bay Area startup had raised over $230 million to develop the device.
However, the AI Pin failed to meet the expectations of early reviewers and customers, leading to significant challenges for the company. Reports from The Verge indicate that returns of the AI Pin were surpassing sales at one point during the previous summer. Compounding its difficulties, Humane advised customers to stop using the device’s charging case due to battery fire concerns. In October, Humane reduced the price of its AI Pins by $200.
With the acquisition, HP will onboard Humane’s engineers and product managers, who will be instrumental in forming a new group called HP IQ. This group will focus on AI innovation, aiming to create an intelligent ecosystem for HP’s future products and services related to work.
Furthermore, HP is set to acquire some of Humane’s technology, such as its CosmOS AI operating system. Humane had recently suggested through an advertisement that this operating system could potentially operate within various devices, including car entertainment systems, smart speakers, TVs, and Android phones. This technology could help integrate AI into HP’s personal computers and printers.
Earlier in May 2024, Humane had explored the possibility of a sale at a substantially higher valuation, between $750 million and $1 billion, as reported by Bloomberg.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Humane were unsuccessful, as the company did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request.
