A look at Humane's $699 clip-on Ai Pin, the culmination of five years of work, $240M in funding, and 25 patents; Humane expects to sell ~100K in the first year

New York Times 2023-11-10

Context & Ripple Effects

Humane's launch case rested on five years of development, $240M in funding, 25 patents, and a first-year target of roughly 100,000 units. Earlier coverage had tied the company to former Apple executives and OpenAI and Microsoft partnerships, framing the device as a well-funded attempt to establish a new AI-wearable category.

The commercial benchmark later proved difficult to meet: reports said the Ai Pin had only about 10,000 orders by early April and that Humane was exploring a sale, while subsequent reporting put sales above $9M alongside more than $1M in returns. That makes this launch a useful test of whether technical backing can translate into consumer-hardware demand.

First-order effects

Humane moves from R&D and partnership-building into a consumer sales test, with a $699 price and a public 100,000-unit goal creating an immediate measure of product-market fit.
The company must convert its patent portfolio and $240M funding base into a reliable device, support operation, and repeatable customer acquisition before its sales target can be meaningful.

Second-order effects

A weak early conversion rate would quickly increase pressure on Humane's financing and strategic options, as later reports of roughly 10,000 orders by early April and sale discussions illustrate.
The gap between a high launch target and later reported sales and returns makes distribution, customer support, and perceived everyday utility central constraints—not simply the ability to build an AI device.

Third-order effects

If comparable AI wearables continue to struggle at premium prices, the category is likely to favor companies with stronger distribution and existing customer relationships over standalone device startups.
The episode points to an AI-hardware market in which capital, patents, and model partnerships may be necessary entry conditions but insufficient evidence of durable consumer demand.

The trend: AI hardware is shifting from prototype-led excitement toward a harder test of distribution advantage, daily utility, and post-sale support.

Discussion

@sandofsky Ben Sandofsky on threads
My theory about what happened at Humane... Founders pitch investors on a hand laser thing when it's a napkin sketch. They raise too much money, hire too many people. They build a prototype, but too late. Turns out the laser UI sucks and eats too much battery. “Hmm. …
@seyitaylor @seyitaylor on threads
There's something very positive to be said for a good computer you don't need to stare at, but I think visual cues matter for most people, so I don't know about that. The path of the eclipse was wrong. The almond math was wrong. Unsure if that matters.
@jw Josh Williams on threads
The philosophy and ideas behind the Humane Ai pin are legitimately interesting, but the form factor is such a non-starter for normies. Meta Ray-Bans, the Apple Watch, and AirPods all operate in the same universe with more natural form factors. And those Ray-Bans are half the pr…
@bartclaeys Bart Claeys on threads
The Humane Ai Pin shows how great of a product market fit Rayban Meta glasses are.
@sandofsky Ben Sandofsky on threads
Today Humane announced *three* products. A chat GPT wrapper. A camera without a screen. Swappable batteries. ChatGPT. Useless camera. Batteries. Are you getting it?
@captain2phones Michael Fisher on threads
First impressions on Humane: Hardware, to me, is a home run. Functional but not dull, friendly while still futuristic. Love the “hack” of building the battery into the magnetic *back*, which makes hot swapping possible. Also love that $699 gets you the pin, cable, an extra bat…
@reckless1280 Nilay Patel on threads
me, describing AA batteries
@quillmatiq Anuj Ahooja on threads
The Humane AI Pin feels like the Clubhouse of wearables - cool features that are easy to port over to existing products. For Clubhouse, it was other social media apps. For Humane, it's phones, wearables, and ambient assistants. I'm rooting for them but it's hard to not call ou…
@epro.social Emil Protalinski on bluesky
Humane will be lucky to sell 10,000 of these Ai Pins, only to watch a company relaunch the same product in 10 years for double the price. [embedded post]
@chickenpuppet.bsky.social @chickenpuppet.bsky.social on bluesky
You invented an uglier Smart Watch, a device that took about 10 years to not suck [embedded post]
@lexnfx Alexei Oreskovic on x
This paragraph in the NYT story on Humane is the best use of 100 words I've ever seen to perfectly capture Silicon Valley: [image]
@avischiffmann Avi on x
My thoughts on Humane-as the other “wearable AI” founder: FORM FACTOR Personally I built prototypes of all wearable AI form factors: pins, clips, watches, ear-pieces, necklaces, etc. Humane will have the following issues: · Choosing daily where to place a pin results in... [image…
@adariostrange @adariostrange on x
Yeah, if only Meta had thought to put AI in its new version of Ray-Ban smartglasses. Oh wait, they did, and it works amazingly (available now, not in 2024, and for half the price).
@terronk Lee Edwards on x
I would like Humane a lot more if they would create their own vibes instead of doing the uncanny valley of Apple's.
@tomgara Tom Gara on x
I am hereby requesting 5-8,000 words to be written about Brother Spirit, and potentially a full 10 episode Netflix series set inside the Brother Spirit Cinematic Universe https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
It's A... I pin! @aatilley on Humane's bet on the definitely-not-a-smartphone. https://www.wsj.com/...
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
“Pin” is meant more as a metaphor to evoke the “sentiment of attaching it to your clothing” than as a physical descriptor. We couldn't call it the AI tin of mints clipped to your chest. Marketing vetoed that one. https://www.wired.com/...
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
“People with pacemakers should consult their doctors about potential magnetic interference, Chaudhri says.” Oh, it doesn't have health features and also, it might kill you. https://www.wired.com/...
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
Take it from Human investor Sam Altman: [image]
@viditb Vidit Bhargava on x
As a tech enthusiast, I'm excited to try this out. As a consumer, I'm still unsure how it is going to fit in my daily life, but it's great to see consumer electronics that are not giant touch screen slabs. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@glenngabe Glenn Gabe on x
I shared about this recently. It can ultimately be Jarvis-like -> A look at Humane's $699 clip-on Ai Pin, the culmination of 5 years of work, $240M in funding, and 25 patents; Humane expects to sell ~100K in the first year https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]
@trippmickle Tripp Mickle on x
What comes after the iPhone? Silicon Valley has been asking that for years. Humane thinks it has the answer: A new device that trades screens for AI and lasers. The journey starts with a Bhuddist monk named Brother Spirit. w/ @eringriffith https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
“We want to have powerful compute with us at all times, and that's really what it's about,” Has either of them ever seen an Apple Watch Ultra? Always with me & I can use it standalone with a cell connection that doesn't require a new phone number for $10 https://www.wired.com/...
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
“It's really touching people from every background, every age group, globally, in terms of what we're feeling and seeing in feedback."" Translation “all our VCs love wearing it on their Patagonia vests and convincing themselves this is the new iPhone” https://www.wired.com/...
@pronounced_kyle Christian Keil on x
True technology brothers can name at least four companies developing AI wearables. [image]
@linusekenstam Linus on x
The @Humane ai pin is finally here, starts at $699 and in the US you can order on the 16th or November [image]
@_mayankkishore Mayank on x
It's 9:17 and I have no idea where to go Humane is what happens when you try to emulate Steve Jobs without understanding Steve Jobs
@heysaik Sai Kambampati on x
I joined @Humane towards the tail-end of this chapter but everything the team has accomplished since the start is nothing short of mindblowing And like I said, today marks the start of a new chapter in what promises to be an incredible journey This is the Ai Pin and I can't... [i…
@ricburton Ric Burton on x
Looking forward to the @Humane announcement in a few moments [video]
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
🌘 NEW: @trippmickle and I spent time inside Humane, the wildly ambitious A.I. hardware start-up that's trying to break our smartphone addiction. Their solution? More technology of course! (thread) [image]
@jetscott Scott Stein on x
Ai Pin in Wall-E mode [image]
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
“Whether any of them can become socially acceptable or withstand the scrutiny of the fashion police is a major question” nope My smart watch is great at being invisible w/my phone always handy when I need more. Also, I don't look like a dork with my watch https://www.wired.com/..…

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