HP Acquihires Humane for $116 Million ⇥ humane.com
HP Inc. announced a definitive agreement to acquire key AI capabilities from Humane, including their AI-powered platform Cosmos, highly skilled technical talent, and intellectual property with more than 300 patents and patent applications. The acquisition advances HP’s transformation into a more experience-led company.
In general, there is something a little saddening about the failure of a brand new company trying to do its own thing in a world of giants. There is a steep hill any smaller hardware business will face.
But it is also true that the A.I. Pin just seemed pretty bad. Only so much of that can be blamed on not having access to certain APIs or it being a first-generation product. It still cost $700 and required a subscription of $24 per month. And, while HP’s deal — for less than half what the company raised — includes the software, patents, and most of the staff, it excludes the A.I. Pin.
So what happens to all those devices?
Device Timeline: Your Ai Pin will continue to function normally until 12pm PST on February 28, 2025. After this date, it will no longer connect to Humane’s servers, and .Center access will be fully retired.
Device Features: Your Ai Pin features will no longer include calling, messaging, Ai queries/responses, or cloud access.
That deadline is just ten days from the time of this announcement. These pins, which began shipping less than a year ago, cannot be refurbished or reused in any way, so they will all become fridge magnets — in just ten days. I get the instinct to blame people for buying this product, but I also understand well-heeled people trying something new. The amount of products that will now end up in landfills is a blight on those responsible for these decisions. They can kick rocks.