Humane’s Ai Pin, a small screenless gadget meant to replace the smartphone, lasted less than a year on the market. In February 2025, HP agreed to buy Humane’s software, patents, and engineers for $116 million, and Humane switched off the online service that made the Pin work.
What the Humane Ai Pin promised
Humane was founded by two former Apple employees, Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno. The Ai Pin clips to clothing below the collarbone, answers voice commands through an AI assistant, and uses a small laser projector to show text in green light on the palm of your hand. It has its own mobile data connection, so it works without being paired to a phone.
The company first showed the device in a TED talk (the video is at the end of this article). A prototype was then shown at Paris Fashion Week, although the French tech site Frandroid noted that it did not appear to be working yet.
Poor reviews and more returns than sales
The Pin went on sale in April 2024, and The Verge’s review put the price at $699 plus a $24 monthly subscription. The same review found it slow, often warm, and short on battery, because nearly every request had to travel through Humane’s servers. The reviewer estimated that about half of his phone calls failed, and live translation, one of the most promoted features, did not work in Japanese or Korean during testing.
Many buyers sent the Pin back. The Verge reported in August 2024, citing internal sales data, that more Pins were returned than purchased between May and August. The same report put lifetime sales of the Pin and its accessories at just over $9 million, with more than $1 million worth of products returned. According to the same report, close to 7,000 units were still in customers’ hands. A Humane spokesperson said the figures contained inaccuracies but gave no details.
A battery recall and a search for a buyer
In June 2024, Humane emailed owners asking them to stop using the Pin’s charging case immediately, because a battery cell from an outside supplier could pose a fire risk, The Verge reported. The Pin itself, its magnetic battery booster, and its charging pad were not affected, according to the company’s email.
According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a formal recall followed on 31 October 2024. According to the CPSC notice, it covered about 10,500 charging cases sold from November 2023 to May 2024, after one report of a case that overheated and melted while charging, with no injuries reported. The agency updated the notice in June 2025: because Humane was no longer in business, no refund or replacement was available, and owners were told to stop using the case and discard it.
Humane cut the Pin’s price in October 2024, The Verge reported. In December, the company released a video showing its CosmOS software (the operating system behind the Pin) running in a car, a TV, a smart speaker, and a phone. Humane’s own fine print described the video as illustrative, with working prototypes and simulated scenes, and no partner company was named. Shortly after the launch, Humane had reportedly started looking for a buyer at a price as high as $1 billion, The Verge reported.
The Humane Ai Pin shutdown and the HP deal
According to the HP release dated 18 February 2025, the $116 million deal covers Humane’s CosmOS AI platform, its technical staff, and more than 300 patents and patent applications. According to HP, the Humane team forms HP IQ, a new AI lab meant to connect HP devices from AI PCs to smart printers and connected conference rooms.
Humane stopped selling the Pin the same day. Pins kept working until 3 PM Eastern time on 28 February 2025, The Verge reported from Humane’s support page. After that, calls, messages, AI answers, and cloud access stopped, and only offline functions such as checking the battery level remained. According to the same report, refunds were limited to Pins still within the 90-day return window.
What Jony Ive said about the Ai Pin
In May 2025, former Apple chief designer Jony Ive called the Ai Pin and the Rabbit R1 “very poor products” in an interview with Bloomberg, The Verge reported. Ive, who was announcing a partnership between his start-up io and OpenAI on AI hardware, added that new ways of thinking were missing from these devices.
Gromeus has covered other attempts to move beyond the phone, such as Meta’s Orion glasses that aim to replace the phone, and Limitless, an AI wearable that records your meetings.
Watch Humane’s TED demo of the Ai Pin
In this talk, Humane co-founder Imran Chaudhri presented the unreleased Ai Pin on the TED stage, the first public showing of the device.
Sources and related information
HP – HP accelerates AI software investments to transform the future of work – 2025
HP’s press release gives the $116 million price and the assets acquired from Humane: the CosmOS platform, technical staff, and more than 300 patents and patent applications, plus the creation of the HP IQ lab.
The Verge – Humane AI Pin review: not even close – 2024
David Pierce’s review for The Verge gives the $699 price and $24 monthly subscription, and describes the slow answers, heat, short battery life, failed calls, and failed translation.
The Verge – Humane’s daily returns are outpacing sales – 2024
This report based on internal sales data says more Pins were returned than bought between May and August 2024, with just over $9 million in lifetime sales and more than $1 million in returns. Humane disputed the figures without details.
The Verge – Humane warns AI Pin owners to immediately stop using its charging case – 2024
The June 2024 article reproduces Humane’s email asking owners to stop using the charging case because of a third-party battery cell that could pose a fire risk.
CPSC – Humane recalls Charge Case Accessory for Ai Pin due to lithium battery fire hazard – 2024
The official US recall notice covers about 10,500 charging cases and records one case that overheated and melted. Its June 2025 update says Humane is no longer in business and tells owners to discard the case.
The Verge – Humane wants to put the AI Pin’s software inside your phone, car, and smart speaker – 2024
This article on Humane’s CosmOS video describes the car, TV, speaker, and phone demos, the fine print calling them illustrative, and the lack of named partners.
The Verge – Humane is shutting down the AI Pin and selling its remnants to HP – 2025
The shutdown report gives the 28 February 2025 cutoff, the features lost and kept, the refund limits, the October 2024 price cut, and the reported $1 billion asking price.
The Verge – Jony Ive says Rabbit and Humane made bad products – 2025
This article quotes Jony Ive’s Bloomberg interview, in which he called the Ai Pin and the Rabbit R1 very poor products.
Frandroid – L’objet connecté qui pourrait mettre fin à l’ère du smartphone – 2023
This French article on the Paris Fashion Week showing describes the screenless design and laser projector, and notes that the prototype did not appear to be working.
TED – The disappearing computer, and a world where you can take AI everywhere – 2023
The TED page for Imran Chaudhri’s talk presents it as the first showing of Humane’s product and now notes that the product was discontinued in February 2025.
