Humane is reportedly looking to sell its business after AI pin's rocky launch

The Humane AI Pin created quite a buzz at the Mobile World Congress this year, where many journalists like me got to see and experience it in person for the first time. The company later sent out review units of the pin to many publications and influencers, but that backfired quickly and stunningly. Most reviewers found that the Humane AI Pin was not ready for primetime, with many of its promised features just not working the way they were supposed to. At $700 plus a subscription, the wearable device just didn’t seem like a worthy investment. YouTuber MKBHD even called it “the worst product” he has ever reviewed. Looks like the company has suffered adversely because of all the negative press.

According to Bloomberg, Humane Inc. is now seeking a buyer for its business. The company is reportedly working with a financial adviser to assist with the sale and is seeking anywhere between $750 million to $1 billion from prospective buyers.

Speaking of, there’s no word on who Humane has approached for the sale of its AI Pin startup. The company previously raised $230 million from investors, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman.

While Humane had said it would improve the AI Pin over time with software updates, founders Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno have largely remained silent about the product and the company’s future.

Humane has recently integrated OpenAI’s GPT-4o into the pin, claiming that this enhancement significantly improves the device’s ability to understand user requests, reduces latency, provides crisper responses, and decreases the number of incorrect answers. Whether these improvements can restore the device’s reputation, which has suffered due to a wave of negative reviews, remains to be seen.