 | |
| Founded | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
| Products | Ai Pin |
Number of employees | 200 |
| Website | humane |
Humane Inc. (stylized as hu.ma.ne [1] ) is an American consumer electronics company founded in 2018 by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno. [2] [3] The company designed and developed the Ai Pin, which started shipping in April 2024. [4]
Humane was founded by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno [5] in 2018; the couple previously worked at Apple Inc. [3] The startup emerged from stealth mode in 2021. [6] [7] Chaudhri revealed the device and demonstrated its features during a TED Talk in May 2023, [8] [9] and it was later showcased at Paris Fashion Week in September. [10]
By November 2023, the company had raised $230 million, [11] with notable investors such as Marc Benioff, Sam Altman, Tiger Global, SoftBank, Qualcomm, Microsoft, LG, Volvo, and Salesforce. Microsoft and OpenAI also announced partnerships with Humane. [12]
Humane announced their wearable device would be called the "Ai Pin" in July 2023. [13] [14] The device was formally announced on November 9, 2023, and sales started one week later. [11]
The Humane Ai Pin was featured by Time in its Best 200 Inventions of 2023, which was published before the product was released and without the magazine being provided a review unit for testing. [15] Time's co-chairs, Marc and Lynne Benioff, are investors in Humane Inc. [15]
In January 2024, the company laid off 4% of its staff (10 employees). [16] The device began shipping in April 2024. [4]
On May 22, 2024, Bloomberg reported news that Humane, Inc. was seeking a buyer for its business, initially considering offers in the $750 million to $1 billion range. [17]
Humane's Ai Pin has received generally negative reviews, praising its product design but criticizing the limited battery life and how easily the device overheats in just a few minutes. [18] [19]
The Verge wrote, "After many days of testing, the one and only thing I can truly rely on the AI Pin to do is tell me the time." [18] The review from Inverse stated that it "is slow to answer even basic questions." [19] Fast Company noted that "Almost everything about the pin was a UX disaster for reviewers." [20]
In response to the criticism, lead Ai Pin engineer Ken Kocienda said that he used the product "all the time" but did find it "frustrating sometimes" in the same way as a laptop or smartphone. [21]
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