Remember the AI Pin? It seems like a lifetime ago since people actually talked about that device and even longer since anyone said anything good about it! The ill-fated device flopped hard, so the company is now on damage control. Humane is looking for a $1 billion buyout after the AI Pin flopped.
The tech industry was flooded by poor reviews of the AI Pin. Sure, it was an interesting concept. If you don’t know what the AI Pin is, it’s a little device you clip onto your clothes that acts as a quick shortcut to AI models. You can activate it to ask it questions, and it will contact LLMs in the cloud and serve them to you. Also, it has a camera onboard to scan objects in the real world.
On paper and in the Ted Talk that the CEO gave, it seemed like a useful and industry-defining device; then again, so did the Nokia NGAGE. The fact of the matter is that the device underperformed in just about every area. Thus, it gained a thumbs down from pretty much every reviewer. Making things worse is the fact that it was a steep $700 investment plus $24/month for cell service.
Humane is looking for a $1 billion buyout
Well, we can add this to the “Interesting, but failed device graveyard” along with the corpses of the Essential Phone, Moto Mods, and the Rabbit R1. After the company only sold 10,000 units, Humane is now looking to be bought. The 10,000-unit figure doesn’t take into account canceled orders or returns. Also, how many of those users are going to continue paying the $24/month fee for the service? As noted by Engadget, the company could have only pulled in a maximum of $7.24 million in revenue.
10,000 units is much lower than the 100,000 units Humane planned to sell, so it’s selling itself. Humane is looking for a buyer to purchase the company. We don’t know what company would want to buy Humane, but it’s been in talks with HP.
It may seem odd that the company wants to sell itself after bombing so hard on its first product. We don’t know what Humane is planning on doing, but it could be seeking the security of being owned by a much larger company. Also, who knows if Humane could make itself a division of a company? Rather than developing its own products, it could lend its technology and expertise to another company.
Well, anything is better than bankruptcy!
2024-06-07 15:10:20