HP acquires Humane for 116 million dollars: do you remember AI Pin?

HP has announced the acquisition of the startup Humane, known for the development of the controversial Ai Pin device.

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Through this purchase, HP will acquire 300 patents and patent applications, as well as the intellectual property and a group of employees from Humane.

The transaction, valued at 116 million dollars, is expected to be completed by the end of this month. Although Humane promised to revolutionize the field of wearable devices with its Ai Pin, the project has left a bitter taste among consumers.

What does HP achieve with this purchase of Humane?

The device’s functionalities, which included calls and messaging through an interface projected onto the user’s hand, will no longer be available once the cloud software ceases operations on February 28, 2025.

Humane has reported that it will process refunds for those who purchased the device in the last 90 days at a price of 700 dollars, in addition to offering returns for those customers with subscription plans of 24 dollars per month, although no refunds have been mentioned for early buyers.

The company has also acknowledged the issues it faced, such as poor quality control and difficulties in customer service, which contributed to frustrating many consumers.

Despite this setback, the founders of Humane, Imran Chaudri and Bethany Bongiorno, who worked for years at Apple, will lead a new division called ‘HP IQ’, focused on integrating artificial intelligence into HP printers and PCs.

HP seeks to capitalize on Humane’s experience and intellectual property to strengthen its portfolio, although it has no plans to continue developing dedicated artificial intelligence devices.

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In statements to Bloomberg, Tuan Tran, President of Technology and Innovation at HP, stated that “there will be a time and place for pure AI devices, but AI will be present in all our devices.”