/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25379240/247075_Humane_AI_pin_AKrales_0056.jpg?w=696&resize=696,0&ssl=1 "Humane’s daily product returns outpace sales")
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Shortly after Humane launched the $699 AI Pin in April, refunds started pouring in.
According to internal sales data obtained by the company, more AI Pins were returned than purchased between May and August. EdgeBy June, only about 8,000 units had been sold. I did not have returned, a source with direct knowledge of sales and returns data told me. As of today, the number of units still in customer hands has dropped closer to 7,000, the source with direct knowledge said.
The AI Pin was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews upon launch, with our own David Pierce saying it “just doesn’t work,” and Marques Brownlee it was called “worst product” he’s ever reviewed. Now Humane is trying to stabilize its operations and maintain trust with staff and potential buyers. Recent York Times in June it was reported that HP is considering purchase of the company and information announced last week that Humane is negotiating with its current investors to raise debtwhich can later be converted into equity capital.
According to internal data obtained by Humane, the AI Pin and accessories have generated more than $9 million in sales since its inception. Edge. However, about 1,000 purchases were canceled before shipping, and more than $1 million worth of products were returned.
The numbers, which had not been previously reported, better illustrate the challenging position Humane finds itself in, with restricted options moving forward. The low sales numbers also pale in comparison to the more than $200 million Humane has raised from high-profile Silicon Valley executives like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. About 10,000 Pins and accessories have been shipped so far. The company had hoped to ship about 100,000 Pins in the first year, according to a source with knowledge of the plan, which was first reported by Humane. Recent York Times.
Zoz Cuccias, a spokesman for Humane, said the report contained inaccuracies. Edge“including financial data.” When asked about the details of these discrepancies, Cuccias said “we have nothing more to say because we do not comment on financial data and we will refer the matter to our lawyer.”
Once a Humane Pin is returned, the company has no way to renew it, sources familiar with the returns process confirmed. The Pin becomes electronic waste, and Humane has no way to recoup revenue by reselling it. The primary concern is a T-Mobile restriction that prevents (for now) Humane from re-assigning a Pin to a modern user after it has been assigned to someone else. One source said he doesn’t believe Humane has gotten rid of the elderly Pins because “they’re still hopeful they’ll eventually be able to resolve this issue.” T-Mobile declined to comment and referred us to Humane.
“We knew we were at the starting line, not the finish line” when AI Pin launched, Cucias wrote in an email. She said Humane has since released several software updates to “take user feedback into account.”
There has been some noticeable turnover in leadership positions at Humane in recent months. Humane’s chief customer officer, Tori Geiken, disappeared from the company’s internal Slack last week, according to sources. One of the sources said employees who worked under Geiken were not given formal notice of her departure. Geiken did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Humane has also seen a churn of software engineering executives since the beginning of the year. Jeremy Werner, vice president of engineering, who joined Humane when the company was still building in secrecy, Patrick Gates, the former chief technology officer, and Ken Kocienda, head of product engineering, have all left Humane with little explanation to their employees, according to sources. In January, Humane laid off 4 percent of its workforce as a cost-cutting measure ahead of the launch of the AI Pin.
Cucias said Edge that “we continue to build an incredibly talented and experienced team” and “we are committed to unlocking a new era of context-aware and environmental computing” with the addition Rubén Caballero, Director of Engineering and Strategy, to the Humane leadership team in June.
Humane executives appear to have ignored some of the warning signs about their product until well into development.
Imran Chaudhri, CEO and co-founder of Humane, introduced the product to much buzz when he first unveiled the AI Pin on stage during a TED talk in April 2023. Both Chaudhri and his wife, Bethany Bongiorno, co-founder and CEO of Humane, previously worked at Apple, where they say they were involved in the development of the Macintosh, iPod, iPad, Apple Watch, and iPhone. The day the negative reviews started coming in, Bongiorno posted on X“This is a starting point. No Generation 1 is perfect, and it is never the complete vision.”
Humane’s management appears to have ignored some warning signs that the bad reviews were coming. After a miniature group of testers—including parents and friends of the co-founders, a few investors, and employees—received the Pins ahead of the device’s public launch, many expressed concerns about the product. One alpha tester contacted customer service to describe the product as “disorienting” and “frustrating,” and described multiple ways in which the product failed to replicate the capabilities shown in the demo videos. The source said the early reviews “went like a bullet through the company.” They launched the AI Pin anyway.