Humane, the company behind the much-hyped Ai Pin that launched last month to little critical acclaim, is looking for a buyer. Bloomberg reports this citing anonymous sources.
The company has reportedly priced itself between $750 million and $1 billion, and the sale process is in the early stages, according to Bloomberg.
However, Humane has not disclosed an official valuation during any funding round The information last year reported that its valuation was $850 million.
Humane did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.
A needle in a haystack
Founded in 2017 by former Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno And Imran ChaudriHumane had raised about $230 million from backers like Microsoft, Qualcomm Ventures, Marc Benioff and OpenAI's Sam Altman before any part of the product was even publicly unveiled.
The company finally unveiled its product last June: called Ai Pin, it is a wearable gadget with a projected display and AI-powered features. The reveal kicked off a period of pre-orders in the US, but the launch was delayed before the Ai Pin finally released in mid-April.
The Ai Pin has a unique form factor and is packed with sensors, generative AI, and a small projector that can project a screen onto any surface, like your hand.
But with a price tag of $700, plus a $24 monthly subscription that gives the user a phone number and unlimited data to answer as many questions as they can muster, the Ai Pin seemed like a tough sell in a cash-strapped consumer market. . In some ways the device seemed like a solution in search of a problem, with many of the early reviews saying the Ai Pin doesn't really do much more than what you can already do with your smartphone.
High-profile YouTuber and reviewer Marques Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, gave a particularly scathing review, which many said could single-handedly destroy the Ai Pin before it had properly launched.
Add to that the complaints about battery life and overheating issues, not to mention other emerging (and cheaper) smart gadgets like Meta's Ray-Bans and Rabbit's R1, and it seemed increasingly unlikely that Humane would deliver any kind of could acquire meaningful technology. foothold in the portable market.
It's also worth noting that the company's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Patrick Gateswho joined Humane in 2019 after 13 years at Apple, left the company in January along with 4% of its workforce.
All in all, things haven't seemed rosy at Humane for a while, so the news that it may be looking for a buyer isn't all that surprising. However, whether a suitor is willing to bite depends very much on the balance.
