Humane AI is reportedly looking for a buyer, just weeks after its disastrous wearables launch
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- Humane is exploring a sale, seeking $750 million to $1 billion, Bloomberg reported.
- The AI startup, valued at $850 million in 2023, hired a financial adviser for the process.
- Humane's AI-enabled wearable pin faced harsh reviews after its April launch.
On the heels of its widely-panned wearables launch, artificial intelligence startup Humane is looking for a buyer, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
The company, which The Information reported was valued last year at $850 million, is seeking a price of $750 million to $1 billion, Bloomberg reported. The outlet said Humane hired an unnamed financial adviser for the process and that it may not result in a deal.
Humane, founded in 2018 by husband and wife duo Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno — both former Apple managers — built an AI-enabled wearable pin that offers smartphone capabilities. It's priced at $699 and has a $24 monthly subscription fee.
It's supposed to complete daily tasks like making calls, taking photos, and answering your questions. It can even project an interactive screen onto users' palms.
The pin's April launch, which had been delayed by months, was a disaster. Traditional media outlets and independent reviewers, like YouTube tech king Marques Brownlee, published scathing reviews, saying the pin wasn't yet ready for real-life customers.
Brownlee titled his video about the pin: "The Worst Product I've Ever Reviewed… For Now."
Humane's cofounders said in a statement to Business Insider last month that the device and its operating system are just the "beginning of the story," with updates in the works that would make the pin "smarter and more powerful over time."
Humane raised a $100 million Series C funding round in March 2023 from investors including Microsoft, Tiger Global, and OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman.
Silicon Valley and the wider tech world have poured many millions of dollars into developing a new generation of wearables powered by AI. But few products have reached consumers at scale, and it's still too early to tell which companies will emerge as winners.
Humane did not respond to BI's request for comment about the sale, sent outside standard business hours.