AI startup Humane said on Tuesday that it was discontinuing its AI Pin and selling parts of its business to HP for $116 million.
The transaction, which is expected to close at the end of February, will see HP acquire Humane’s employees, software, patents, and patent applications, Humane said in a statement on Tuesday.
Humane said on the same day that it would be discontinuing the AI Pin “effective immediately.” The company said in an update on its website that it was also halting device sales.
“Your AI Pin will continue to function normally until 12 p.m. PST on February 28, 2025,” the company wrote in its update, adding that the devices will stop connecting to its servers thereafter.
Humane said in a separate FAQ on the AI Pin that it will offer refunds to customers whose devices were “shipped on or after November 15th, 2024.” All refund requests must be submitted by February 27, the company added.
Following the acquisition, Humane’s employees and co-founders, Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri will become a part of HP’s new AI innovation lab, HP IQ. Bongiorno and Chaudhri, who are married to each other, were longtime Apple employees before they left to start Humane in 2019.
The new division will be “focused on building an intelligent ecosystem across HP’s products and services for the future of work,” HP said in a statement on Tuesday.
Representatives for Humane and HP did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Launched in November 2023, the AI Pin was Humane’s first product. Humane pitched the pin as an AI personal assistant to customers. Besides taking calls and answering texts through voice commands, users could also interact with the pin via its laser-projected display.
The AI Pin was included in Time magazine’s list of best inventions in October 2023, and was hotly anticipated even before its debut.
However, the AI Pin was hit with negative reviews over its design and features. In October, Humane lowered the price of the AI Pin from $699 to $499.
When asked about the criticisms surrounding the AI Pin, Bongiorno and Chaudhri said in a statement to BI in April that it was only the “beginning of the story.”
“We have an ambitious road map with software refinements, new features, additional partnerships, and our SDK,” Humane’s co-founders said. “All of this will enable your AI Pin to become smarter and more powerful over time.”
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