Late last year, former Apple designer Imran Chaudhry and former Apple software manager Bethany Bongiorno launched one of the first AI wearable products under the Humane brand. The $699 Humane AI Pin was met with poor reviews, with many criticizing its poor performance.
Humane continues to struggle, with returns now outstripping sales. According to The Verge, more AI pins were returned than were purchased between May and August. The number of pins returned is so high that only about 7,000 of the original shipment of roughly 10,000 remain in consumers' hands.
The company has only sold about $9 million worth of AI Pins in total and is dealing with $1 million in returns. Humane is unable to refurbish the returned AI Pins due to technical limitations in cellular connectivity, and the returned units are simply e-waste at this point.
Humane also had issues with the charging case for the device, which was found to be a fire hazard. Humane emailed customers to stop using the charging case accessory. No refunds were offered, but the company did offer customers two months of Humane's subscription service for free.
Humane had raised more than $200 million from investors and planned to sell around 100,000 pins in its first year, but poor performance appears to have stalled the device. The Verge claims that pre-launch reviewers of family and friends raised concerns about the AI Pin's functionality, but it launched despite the feedback.
A Humane spokesperson told The Verge that the financial data it had received contained “inaccuracies,” but did not provide further details. Humane said the company is “focused on pioneering a new era of ambient and contextual computing” and is also updating its software in response to user feedback.
