Humane's $700 Ai Pin Discontinued and Defunct After Less Than 1 Year

[kamyk35]

Humane today informed customers that it is discontinuing its $700 Ai Pin at the end of February, with the device set to be taken offline less than a year after it launched in April 2024.

The Ai Pin will work until 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time on February 28, which is just 10 days from now. At that point, Ai Pin features like calling, messaging, AI queries and responses, and cloud access will stop being available. Humane recommends that Ai Pin users sync their devices over Wi-Fi to download stored pictures, videos, and notes before February 28 because data will be deleted after that.

The sudden discontinuation of the Ai Pin comes as Humane is being sold to HP for $116 million. HP is purchasing Humane's CosmOS AI platform and more than 300 patents and patent applications, plus HP will be hiring Humane's employees.

Humane does not plan to provide the majority of customers with a refund, even though the Ai Pin worked for under 12 months. Refunds are only available to customers who are within their 90-day return period. Customers who purchased an Ai Pin on or after November 15, 2024 will get a refund, but other users are out the full $700. Note that all refunds must be submitted by February 27.

Humane recommends that customers recycle their Ai Pin through an e-waste recycling program, as no online features will remain functional and it will only be able to provide offline information like battery level.

Additional information about the Ai Pin's discontinuation is available on the Humane website.

Article Link: Humane's $700 Ai Pin Discontinued and Defunct After Less Than 1 Year

I have little sympathy for people who were foolish enough to buy this, however there should be legislation against a company buying a company and just turning off a service to the customers, it would be different if Humane went bankrupt, but they haven't, they're actually getting a $116 mil, one of these companies should be forced to refund all the customers!

 

[hagar]

Agreed, but electronics recycling has become a fairly mature industry in many markets. Here in Canada, at least in BC, every bottle depot also accepts electronics. No questions asked. There's zero zero zero excuse for anybody to throw electronics in the garbage, ever!

Absolutely! but many people still throw everything in the trash. And while Canada undoubtedly processes this waste correctly, many countries don't. Plenty of e-waste ends up in Africa where it causes irreparable damage to people's health and the environment.

 

[zombierunner]

Juicero

 

[John_san]

Wonder what value HP sees in this company, patents, and product...

 

[myWatch]

Some cool ideas. But I think it was clear from their first demos that they were too high on their own supply to ever create a good product.

Agree. If they had:

1. Not presented the demo the way they did (and the Ted talk which had the same vibe).
2. Waited to ship until the product was functional
3. Offered a Bluetooth version with either no monthly fee or something like a $5 monthly fee
4. If you stop paying the monthly fee, basic features are still functional (alarm, timer, other basic assistant stuff)
5. And I’ll say it again because it was so bad. What were they thinking with that video. The guy is not Jony Ive no matter how much he wants to be. That video put people against them from the start.

Then maybe they would’ve had a chance.

 

[stocklen]

No surprises here but the big issue is that people spent all that money and got 1 year max use. Pity those who bought it in September/October.

Still, with the general negative publicity it received im surprised that anyone parted with their money for it so I cant see there being huge numbers of people out of pocket.

That said, its a very annoying reality for a lot of modern cloud-connected technology- should the company fold or discontinue a device and then switch off the back-end servers then the product becomes a paperweight.
You could argue that most technology nowadays from TVs, Washing Machines, Cars, Watches, computers, phones, doorbells, cameras, etc etc etc etc are ALL cloud connected in some way and should those servers be switched off their functionality will be very compromised if not completely wrecked.

There is no solution to this. Buyer beware. Things like this are going to make it almost impossible for new start-ups to create technology as nobody will trust that it will still be functioning in a years time. The larger companies with the most experience and trust will be the ones that people will gravitate to in the hopes they will at least keep supporting devices for a reasonable number of years.

The days of buying tech which will still reasonably expected to be functioning in 20 years time are long gone.

 

[foobarbaz]

Who are you going to sue? What for? Don’t buy tech for what it may become lol

More like: Don't buy tech for what it does today (if it's cloud-based)

 

[captain kaos]

🤣🤣🤣

 

[davide_eu]

Humane today informed customers that it is discontinuing its $700 Ai Pin at the end of February, with the device set to be taken offline less than a year after it launched in April 2024.

The Ai Pin will work until 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time on February 28, which is just 10 days from now. At that point, Ai Pin features like calling, messaging, AI queries and responses, and cloud access will stop being available. Humane recommends that Ai Pin users sync their devices over Wi-Fi to download stored pictures, videos, and notes before February 28 because data will be deleted after that.

The sudden discontinuation of the Ai Pin comes as Humane is being sold to HP for $116 million. HP is purchasing Humane's CosmOS AI platform and more than 300 patents and patent applications, plus HP will be hiring Humane's employees.

Humane does not plan to provide the majority of customers with a refund, even though the Ai Pin worked for under 12 months. Refunds are only available to customers who are within their 90-day return period. Customers who purchased an Ai Pin on or after November 15, 2024 will get a refund, but other users are out the full $700. Note that all refunds must be submitted by February 27.

Humane recommends that customers recycle their Ai Pin through an e-waste recycling program, as no online features will remain functional and it will only be able to provide offline information like battery level.

Additional information about the Ai Pin's discontinuation is available on the Humane website.

Article Link: Humane's $700 Ai Pin Discontinued and Defunct After Less Than 1 Year

Never never never buy hardware bundled with a service needed for it: so doing you bring the enterprise risk at your home.

Evaluate (and pay if you like) for a service in bundle with the hardware!

 

[mike090910]

I feel sorry for those who purchase fad items. Maybe HP is not that good of a company.

 

[wanha]

The only sucker big enough and with deep enough pockets to buy a garbage fire like Humane is HP. It was always going to be HP.

 

[DMG35]

This device was DOA before it even launched.

 

[Colpeas]

I know i’d be pissed. But I’ve already made the mistake of buying a gimmick from a “startup” once to a similar outcome, so I’m not surprised by this at all.

I think the point here is to know better next time.

 

[antonrg]

What a terrible thing to do to customers.At least refund them! Lawsuits are probably coming

 

[Krizoitz]

Its reasons like this that I wish the law was extended to require all backend servers and APIs required for a hardware device’s functionality to continue to function properly for 7 years after the discontinuation date, or otherwise be forced to open source and release, and unlock the entire service, firmware.

There is no way a law like that could be made.

Let’s say company A makes the product. They license software from companies B, C, and D to run their backend system.

Company A shuts down their product. They literally cannot open source and release their backend system because they don’t own most of it. And it would be insane to force companies B,C, D to open source their software because of something another company did. That would be like holding Alamo rent-a-car criminally liable if someone rents a car from them and uses it in a hit and run.

 

[racerhomie]

Who are you going to sue? What for? Don’t buy tech for what it may become lol

Since Humane is being acquired by HP, I think it’s good to sue HP

 

[firewire9000]

I would be more surprised if anyone isn’t surprised by that. Who would thought that a device with a 700 $ price tag + plus a subscription that is less useful than a smartphone with more capabilities would be a hit.

 

[bobthekelpieau]

HP definitely let their product portfolio get far tooooooo broad. Definitely a company that cares more about wide product selection than laser-focused product quality. I hope Apple doesn't turn into that lost soul one day (again).

I think they were laser-focussed soon after inkjets

 

[Rafagon]

Disgusting!

And why is HP paying such a high price for that worthless company?

 

[Rafagon]

From the FAQ on their website:

"3. Can I still use my Ai Pin for offline features?

Yes. After February 28, 2025, Ai Pin will still allow for offline features like battery level, etc., but will not include any function that requires cloud connectivity like voice interactions, AI responses, and .Center access."

I can't believe they wrote that with a straight face. Their AI pin will still allow features like battery level.

Seriously? They actually expect that someone is going to keep using the device just to look at the battery level?

 

[nostradumbass]

These AI bro idiots real ambition they are working towards is subscription cyber pimping.

They will, already are, try to make sex bots popular. In chat bot form and physical robot form.

They will pay journalist to say this is to help “loneliness” and “mental health”.

The same BS way they told us social media was going to be great for us.

And we know what the result of all this loneliness will be.

The guys collecting the subscriptions will become outrageously rich, they will manipulate society, and screw us all over again.

 

[Skyscraperfan]

That looks very bad for HP, even if they are not obliged to pay for the refunds.

It also shows a general problem with any services that do not run locally. Imagine that happens with a car. The car company goes bankrupt and your car will no longer work because it requires access to the servers.

 

[baryon]

1. Make crappy product that flops
2. Scam users by lying to them that your product isn't a piece of junk
3. Use the scammed users money to make it look like you're not a scam
4. Total failure, everyone hates it, doesn't work, bad reviews, bad sales, pull the product prematurely, huge flop
5. ???
6. Get bought for millions, get hired by a bit tech company, it's all good, we're not going to prison after all!
7. Profit! Screw the users! Great success! Let's do that again sometime! Hard work pays off! Whose money are we stealing next time?

 

[Rogifan]

John Gruber said someone he knows at Apple (who has never badmouthed another employee) referred to Chaudhri as “an utter fraud”. He reported to Scott Forstall back in the day. I remember seeing him on stage demoing the upgraded messages app. I think he left Apple shortly after. His website is just a list of patents he’s on. He reminds me a bit of Tony Fadell in the ego department.

 

[MVMNT]

This is almost the hardware equivalent of a rug-pull.

Would local country's consumer laws cover individuals at this stage? I know this wouldn't go down well if it was a UK based operation.