Humane AI is reportedly winding down after raising $240M from top investors like Tiger Global, SoftBank, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. HP is acquiring the team, IP and software for $116M; all Humane AI pins will stop working in 10 days. The founders will lead a new AI PCs & printers division at HP.
Here’s a look back at where it all started: the deck Humane used to raise their first $100M round in 2021.
Humane was founded in 2018 by former Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri. This leaked 2021 deck (thus the low-res) was the public’s first peak at what the secretive startup was building. At the time this deck leaked, everyone’s best guess was that Humane was building a wearable camera device. The deck described the product as a “cloud connected sight enabled AI platform with service side app echo system.”
The AI pin attaches to your clothing using a magnetic clip, which is also the battery for the device. The camera is intended to capture moments you may otherwise miss for future memory recall. Sam Altman was one of the backers of Humane’s $100M 2021 round, so it came as no surprise that the AI pin will be powered by OpenAI. Humane envisioned their platform serving a wide range of purposes: from live broadcasting to senior monitoring and meditation.
After years of building in stealth, the Humane launch announcement was met with mixed reactions, including a scathing review from MKBHD. Mere months after releasing, Humane was seeking to sell to HP for $1 billion according to The New York Times.
The AI pin sold only 10,000 units (their goal was 100k) as of April 2024, and the company was facing issues on multiple fronts. In June 2024, Humane to tell users to “immediately” stop using their charging case due to issues that “may pose a fire safety risk.” The NYT report also highlighted inner conflict at Humane, claiming that some engineers were fired for questioning the readiness of the pin.
Although Humane sold to HP for ~one-tenth of their initial asking price, it’s still a still a whopping ~165x revenue multiple. Humane investors will likely lose fifty cents on the dollar (having sold for $116M after raising $240M), but many consider this the best possible outcome for the company (employees keeps their jobs, and it’s not a full writeoff).