Hardware is difficult, to paraphrase a famous adage. First-generation products from new startups are notoriously so, regardless of how much money and excitement you’ve managed to drum up. Given all that, it’s likely few are too surprised that Humane’s upcoming Ai Pin has been pushed back a bit, from March to “mid-April,” per a new video from the Bay Area startup’s Head of Media, Sam Sheffer.
In the Sorkin-style walk and talk, he explains that the first units are set to, “start leaving the factory at the end of March.” If Humane keeps to that time frame, “priority access” customers will begin to receive the unit at some point in mid-April. The remaining preorders, meanwhile, should arrive “shortly after.”
a few @Humane updates: pic.twitter.com/olYQp8utdc
— Sam Sheffer (@samsheffer) February 23, 2024
Humane captured a good deal of tech buzz well before its first product was announced, courtesy of its founders’ time at Apple and some appropriately enigmatic prelaunch videos. The Ai Pin was finally unveiled at an event in San Francisco back in early November, where we were able to spend a little controlled hands-on time with the wearable.
The device is the first prominent example of what’s likely to be a growing trend in the consumer hardware world, as more startups look to harness the white-hot world of generative AI for new form factors. Humane is positioning its product as the next step for a space that’s been stuck on the smartphone form factor for more than a decade.
Of course, this will almost certainly also be the year of the “AI smartphone” — that is to say handsets leveraging platforms’ GPT models from companies like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft to bring new methods for interacting with consumer devices. Meanwhile, upstart rabbit generated buzz last month at CES for its own unique take on the generative AI-first consumer device.
For its part, Humane has a lot riding on this launch. The company has thus far raised around $230 million, including last year’s $100 million Series C. There’s a lot to be said for delaying a product until it’s consumer ready. While early adopters are — to an extent — familiar with first-gen bugs, there’s always a limit to such patience. At the very least, a product like this will need to do most of what it’s supposed to do most of the time.
During CES, the company announced that it had laid off 10 employees, amounting to 10% of its total workforce. That’s not a huge number for a startup of that size, but it’s absolutely notable when it occurs at a well-funded company at a time when it needs to project confidence to consumers and investors, alike.
The Ai Pin is currently available for preorder at $699. Those who do so prior to March 31 will get three months of the device’s $24/month subscription service for free.
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