When the Humane AI Pin launched in April, it was roundly panned by critics. So it's no surprise that the $699 AI wearable saw near-immediate returns from dissatisfied customers, according to a new report.
The Verge managed to uncover internal sales data, which shows that between May and August of this year, more AI Pins were returned to Humane than were purchased.
No product will sell well if some of the biggest tech critics are criticizing it. In his now infamous review, YouTuber Marques Brownlee called the pin “the worst product” he’s ever reviewed. Engadget’s Cherlynn Low wrote in her review, “Not only is the Humane AI pin slow, finicky, and barely intelligent, but using it made me feel like an idiot.”
The recall of the flammable charging case certainly didn't help Humane's cause either.
In late May, it was reported that Humane was looking to sell, with claims that its valuation was between $750 million and $1 billion. This came as no surprise to Jason England, the Computing editor at Tom's Guide, who had predicted that startups like Humane and Rabbit were aiming to be acquired by larger companies.
Mind you, this was just after Humane switched its AI models to OpenAI's GPT-4o, a move that was most likely too little, too late.
HP was reportedly close to buying the company, but the deal has yet to go through. The Information also reported that the company is in talks with investors to increase its debt, which would be converted into equity.
Between all of this, AI Pin managed to sell just over $9 million worth of accessories and devices according to sales data. Apparently, over 1,000 purchases were canceled before shipping and over $1 million worth of products were returned to Humane.
To date, about 10,000 AI Pins and accessories have been shipped. A New York Times article in early June profiled a company that hoped to sell nearly 100,000 devices. A rough calculation shows that there are still 7,000 AI Pins floating around the world on people’s lapels.
Apparently, Humane has no way to refurbish or recycle the AI PIN, so they just keep the returned products since there is no way to reassign the devices to new users. This is being blamed on a limitation from T-Mobile, which T-Mobile declined to comment on.
A Humane spokesperson told The Verge that there were inaccuracies in the financial data they reported, but declined to go into detail or refute the data more directly.
According to their X profiles, the two co-founders, Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, claimed that the Humane team is working hard to fix the AI PIN software and add improvements every week.
A recent X thread from Bongiorno highlighted the addition of GPT-40, Google's Gemini, as well as improvements to translation, calendar reminder, and “music interstitials.”
From the outside, it's a company that's been relentlessly moving forward to improve its device and provide more utility to customers, while internally, it's a company that managed to raise $200 million in investment while laying off staff before the product launch, and has experienced a revolving door of leadership.
An anonymous source told The Verge that the AI Pin received harsh feedback from early testers, including friends and family of employees, with some claiming the product failed to reproduce demo videos. The device was launched despite this feedback.
Not to be outdone, the flawed Rabbit R1 that launched shortly after AI Pin is also experiencing its own problems. This month, 404 Media reported that the company was refusing to take responsibility for its ongoing security issues, blaming everyone from journalists and hacktivists to “rogue employees.”
Perhaps AI necklaces like the AI Friend or the Limitless Pendant will exemplify the future of AI wearables, but Humane and Rabbit have a dumpster fire to put out in the meantime.