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'''[[wikipedia:Humane_Inc.|Humane Inc.]]''' is an American consumer electronics company founded in 2018 by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno. The company designed and developed the '''Ai Pin''', a wearable voice-operated [[wikipedia:Virtual_assistant|virtual assistant]] device. It began shipping in April 2024 but received largely negative reviews. In February 2025, it was announced that '''[[HP]]''' would acquire most of Humane.<ref>https://humane.com/media/humane-hp</ref> The Ai Pin was rendered unusable on February 28, 2025.
'''[[wikipedia:Humane_Inc.|Humane Inc.]]''' is an American consumer electronics company founded in 2018 by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno. The company designed and developed the '''AI Pin''', a wearable voice-operated [[wikipedia:Virtual_assistant|virtual assistant]] device. It began shipping in April 2024 but received largely negative reviews. In February 2025, it was announced that '''[[HP]]''' would acquire most of Humane.<ref>https://humane.com/media/humane-hp</ref> The AI Pin was rendered unusable on February 28, 2025.


==Consumer impact summary==
==Consumer impact summary==


* '''Dependence on Servers for Core Functionality''': Ai Pin made extensive use of cloud servers for core functionalities, thus depriving users of fundamental features the moment the servers went out of service.
*'''Dependence on Servers for Core Functionality''': The AI Pin made extensive use of cloud servers for core functionalities, depriving users of fundamental features the moment the servers went out of service.
* '''[[Discontinuation bricking]]''': When support is dropped, the Ai Pin is no longer usable, with customers left with no option of getting it repaired or upgraded.
*'''[[Discontinuation bricking]]''': When support was dropped, the AI Pin was no longer usable, leaving customers with no option of getting the pin repaired or upgraded.


==Incidents==
==Incidents==


=== Ai Pin discontinuation ===
===AI Pin discontinuation===
In February 2025, Humane Inc. announced that it had stopped selling the Ai Pin and that available devices in the market would not be able to access company servers from February 28 onwards.<ref>https://www.engadget.com/ai/all-of-humanes-ai-pins-will-stop-working-in-10-days-225643798.html</ref> This practically made the Ai Pin unusable since the device was highly dependent on cloud servers for almost all of its applications.
In February 2025, Humane Inc. announced that it had stopped selling the AI Pin and that available devices in the market would not be able to access company servers from February 28 onward.<ref>https://www.engadget.com/ai/all-of-humanes-ai-pins-will-stop-working-in-10-days-225643798.html</ref> This made the AI Pin nearly unusable, since the device was highly dependent on cloud servers for almost all of its applications.<ref name=":0" />


After the server was shut down, users were no longer able to use all the core functions of the Ai Pin, and all consumer data on the company's servers were erased permanently.<ref>https://www.404media.co/the-humane-ai-pin-a-700-brick-of-e-waste/</ref>
After the servers were shut down, users were no longer able to use core functions of the AI Pin, and all consumer data on the company's servers was erased permanently.<ref name=":0">https://www.404media.co/the-humane-ai-pin-a-700-brick-of-e-waste/</ref><ref name=":1" />


Due to the discontinuation, Humane provided refunds for units shipped on or after November 15, 2024. The company also asked users recycle their Ai Pins through an e-waste recycling program.<ref>https://support.humane.com/hc/en-us/articles/34243204841997-Ai-Pin-Consumers-FAQ</ref>
Due to the discontinuation of the AI Pin, Humane provided refunds for units shipped on or after November 15, 2024. The company encouraged users to recycle their AI Pins through an e-waste recycling program.<ref name=":1">https://support.humane.com/hc/en-us/articles/34243204841997-Ai-Pin-Consumers-FAQ</ref>


==See also==
==See also==


* [[Discontinuation bricking|'''Discontinuation bricking''']]
*[[Discontinuation bricking|'''Discontinuation bricking''']]
* [[Retroactively amended purchase|'''Retroactively amended purchase''']]
*[[Retroactively amended purchase|'''Retroactively amended purchase''']]


==References==
==References==

Latest revision as of 02:16, 7 June 2025

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Humane Inc.
Basic information
Founded 2018
Type Subsidiary
Industry Technology
Official website https://humane.com/media/humane-hp


Humane Inc. is an American consumer electronics company founded in 2018 by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno. The company designed and developed the AI Pin, a wearable voice-operated virtual assistant device. It began shipping in April 2024 but received largely negative reviews. In February 2025, it was announced that HP would acquire most of Humane.[1] The AI Pin was rendered unusable on February 28, 2025.

Consumer impact summary[edit | edit source]

  • Dependence on Servers for Core Functionality: The AI Pin made extensive use of cloud servers for core functionalities, depriving users of fundamental features the moment the servers went out of service.
  • Discontinuation bricking: When support was dropped, the AI Pin was no longer usable, leaving customers with no option of getting the pin repaired or upgraded.

Incidents[edit | edit source]

AI Pin discontinuation[edit | edit source]

In February 2025, Humane Inc. announced that it had stopped selling the AI Pin and that available devices in the market would not be able to access company servers from February 28 onward.[2] This made the AI Pin nearly unusable, since the device was highly dependent on cloud servers for almost all of its applications.[3]

After the servers were shut down, users were no longer able to use core functions of the AI Pin, and all consumer data on the company's servers was erased permanently.[3][4]

Due to the discontinuation of the AI Pin, Humane provided refunds for units shipped on or after November 15, 2024. The company encouraged users to recycle their AI Pins through an e-waste recycling program.[4]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]