The conclusion of the story regarding the notorious Humane AI Pin is approaching. This week, it was announced by the company that HP, a well-known entity for its computers and printers, plans to purchase several assets from Humane in a deal valued at $116 million, expected to be finalized by the month’s end.
As part of this acquisition, HP will obtain over 300 patents and patent applications, along with a few Humane employees, including its founders Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, as well as Humane’s Cosmos operating system. In late 2024, Humane had aspirations to license this operating system for third-party expansion of the AI voice assistant into other products, such as vehicles, but these plans did not come to fruition.
In late 2023, Humane gained attention in Silicon Valley with the unveiling of its AI wearable device, which featured a ChatGPT-powered assistant and a laser-projected display, claiming it could replace smartphones. However, reviews at the 2024 launch were disappointing. Critics noted numerous issues including frequent overheating, hallucinations by the AI, a lack of useful features, and an obtrusive projector.
Predictably, HP is not focused on the AI Pin hardware. Sales have essentially ceased, and Humane will provide refunds to customers who purchased the device post-November 15, 2024. Existing AI Pins will cease functioning after noon Pacific on February 28, with most of the primary features disabled, although users can still get a battery status reading. Users are advised to sync and download their data, as it will be deleted.
HP intends to incorporate Humane’s Cosmos AI into its products to enhance functionality for customers and fulfill AI promises. Meanwhile, Humane engineers will establish a group called HP IQ, an innovation lab aimed at building an ecosystem of smart features across HP’s product range.
Separately, Apple announced updates this week related to its Vision Pro headset, set to arrive with visionOS 2.4 in April. The update will bring new artificial intelligence features and improvements to the guest experience on the Vision Pro. With the update, guests will be able to wear the headset and the owner will receive a notification on their nearby iPhone or iPad to grant access. Additionally, a new app called Spatial Gallery will be included in visionOS 2.4, offering curated spatial content for the headset.
VisionOS 2.4 will also include updates tied to the rollout of iOS 18.4, including an app that enables content discovery for the Vision Pro. This app will allow users to queue up movies or remotely download apps for the headset. Apple confirmed that the Visual Intelligence feature, which integrates object identification using the iPhone 16 camera and a ChatGPT-powered Siri, will also be available for iPhone 15 Pro models in an upcoming software update.
In other technology news, Eero introduced more affordable Wi-Fi 7 mesh routers this week, responding to the growing support for Wi-Fi 7 among devices like the latest phones and laptops. The new Eero 7 and Eero Pro 7, set to ship on February 26, offer dual-band and tri-band options respectively, providing advanced features such as enhanced security and improved speed capabilities.
