Humane’s AI Pin: all the news about the dead AI-powered wearable – The Verge

Jony Ive says Rabbit and Humane made bad products

2025-05-21T18:27:58-04:00

While announcing a reportedly $6.5 billion team-up on AI hardware between his startup, io, and OpenAI, Jony Ive spoke to Bloomberg and commented on last year's attempts at making AI hardware happen, the Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin:

There have been public failures as well, such as the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1 personal assistant device. "Those were very poor products," said Ive, 58. "There has been an absence of new ways of thinking expressed in products."

In a statement emailed to The Verge, Rabbit founder Jesse Lyu called Ive his "hero," saying, "It's an honor to get mentioned by Jony Ive and Sam Altman about rabbit and rabbit r1. …

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The Humane AI Pin never had a chance

2025-02-19T08:35:57-05:00

At least it’s a nice-looking paperweight.

Ten days from now, the Humane AI Pin will be able to tell you how much battery it has left, and essentially nothing else. To be fair, though, it couldn't do that much before. And it doesn't matter anyway, because you almost certainly didn't buy one. But if you did, that's the bad news: Humane is shutting down the AI Pin - almost exactly a year after it first started shipping the little chest-mounted device - and has sold some of its remnant technology to HP.

The details here are brutal for everyone involved. The $116 million HP is paying pales next to the $230 million the company raised since it was founded in 2018. (There was a rumor last …

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Humane is shutting down the AI Pin and selling its remnants to HP

2025-02-19T11:54:21-05:00

Humane is selling most of its company to HP for $116 million and will stop selling AI Pin, the company announced today.

AI Pins that have already been purchased will continue to function normally until 3PM ET on February 28th, Humane says in a support document. After that date, Pins will "no longer connect to Humane's servers." As a result, AI Pin features will "no longer include calling, messaging, AI queries / responses, or cloud access." Humane is also encouraging users to download any pictures, videos, and notes stored on their Pins before they are permanently deleted at that shutdown time.

After the shutdown, offline features like "b …

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Humane wants to put the AI Pin’s software inside your phone, car, and smart speaker

2024-12-04T19:09:09-05:00

Humane, which makes the not-great AI Pin, wants other companies to build AI devices and gadgets that use its CosmOS operating system, and it has released a video that appears to show that the company already has it working in a car, TV, smart speaker, and phone.

But note that the video, according to Humane's own fine print, is for "illustrative purposes only" - it shows "working prototypes" and some "simulated experiences," and the print says that all "designs, features, and specifications" are subject to change. So don't take it entirely at face value.

In one example, the video shows a person talking to CosmOS in their car (with a blurred …

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Humane recalls the AI Pin’s charging case due to overheating concerns

2024-10-31T13:37:16-04:00

After warning customers to stop using it, Humane is now formally recalling around 10,500 units of its charging case for the beleaguered AI Pin. The affected cases were sold from last November through May of this year. According to the CPSC recall page, the lithium polymer battery in the Charge Case Accessory can potentially overheat and present a fire hazard. Humane admitted similar findings in a June email to customers.

That worst-case scenario, thankfully, hasn't happened yet; the recall notes "one report of a charge case overheating and melting during charging," but there haven't been any injuries or damage to property. The AI Pin, its m …

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Humane’s daily returns are outpacing sales

2024-08-07T13:12:21-04:00

Shortly after Humane released its $699 AI Pin in April, the returns started flowing in.

Between May and August, more AI Pins were returned than purchased, according to internal sales data obtained by The Verge. By June, only around 8,000 units hadn't been returned, a source with direct knowledge of sales and return data told me. As of today, the number of units still in customer hands had fallen closer to 7,000, a source with direct knowledge said.

At launch, the AI Pin was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews. Our own David Pierce said it "just doesn't work," and Marques Brownlee called it "the worst product" he's ever reviewed. Now, …

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Humane warns AI Pin owners to ‘immediately’ stop using its charging case

2024-06-05T16:49:04-04:00

Humane is telling AI Pin owners today that they should "immediately" stop using the charging case that came with its AI gadget. There are issues with a third-party battery cell that "may pose a fire safety risk," the company wrote in an email to customers (including The Verge's David Pierce, who reviewed it when it came out).

Humane says it has "disqualified" that vendor and is moving to find another supplier. It also specified that the AI Pin itself, the magnetic Battery Booster, and its charging pad are "not affected." As recompense, the company is offering two free months of its subscription service, which is required for most of its fun …

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Humane is looking for a buyer after the AI Pin’s underwhelming debut

2024-05-21T22:10:07-04:00

Humane, the startup behind the poorly-reviewed AI Pin wearable computer, is already hunting for a potential buyer for its business. That's according to a report from Bloomberg, which says the company - led by former longtime Apple employees Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno - is "seeking a price of between $750 million and $1 billion."

That might be a tough sell after the $699 AI Pin's debut: the device has been widely panned for its slow responses and a user experience that falls well short of the always-on, wearable AI assistant concept that its founders promised in the run-up to the device's release. The product was pitched at least p …

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Humane AI Pin review: not even close

2025-01-28T10:10:57-05:00

The idea behind the Humane AI Pin is a simple one: it's a phone without a screen. Instead of asking you to open apps and tap on a keyboard, this little wearable abstracts everything away behind an AI assistant and an operating system Humane calls CosmOS. Want to make a phone call, send a text message, calculate the tip, write something down, or learn the population of Copenhagen? Just ask the AI Pin. It uses a cellular connection (only through T-Mobile and, annoyingly, not connected to your existing number) to be online all the time and a network of AI models to try to answer your questions and execute your commands. It's not just an app; it …

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What if phones actually bent to our needs?

2024-03-01T10:30:00-05:00

What if our phones weren’t rigid pieces of glass and aluminum? | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Mobile World Congress, like any good trade show, tries to present us with the best of what's possible now and a vision for what's coming next. Which translates to a lot of questions, particularly about the future of phones, like:

"What if phones, but controlled with your eyes?"

"What if phones, but make them fashion?"

"What if phones, but on your face? Or in your car?"

"What if phones, but color-changing for no reason?"

Honestly, this is the stuff trade shows are made of, and I absolutely love it. Where else are you going to see a transparent laptop? Definitely not at Best Buy.

But this year's show seemed centered on one particular qu …

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