Humane today announced the availability of its first product, the Ai Pin. Bay area based hardware startup started in 2017, a year after co-founders Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri left Apple. Since then, the company has been well-funded, to the tune of $230 million, and focused on building autonomous AI devices.
The Ai Pin is the first of what Humane hopes will be a long line of devices aimed at harnessing the power and popularity of productive AI platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. The system is based on a number of different LLM-based systems, leveraging what it believes is the best platform for each individual task.
TechCrunch spoke with Bongiorno and Chaudhri about the company’s history and plans for the future. We also received one of the devices for some hands-on testing. The Humane Ai Pin is still a first-generation product in a number of ways, including reliability and functionality, but the hardware represents a great attention to detail that betrays its founders’ origins.
Humane’s vision for the $699 device is one in which a new technology can be freed from the constraints of its predecessors. Specifically, this means a voice-based, always-connected device that can help users search from their phone screens at intervals.
In our recent conversation, Bongiorno described an experience that set the co-founders on the path that would eventually lead to the pin. “We were at this dinner and there was a family sitting next to us,” he noted “It was three kids and a mom and dad, and they were on their phones the whole time. It really started a conversation about the incredible tool we built, but also some of the side effects.”
The Ai Pin is the first of what will almost certainly be a long line of products that will drive the AI genetic gift. Back at CES in January, Rabbit turned heads with its R1 handheld. Next month at MWC, Brain.AI showed off its vision for a headset that uses genetic artificial intelligence as the core of its new operating system. The field is already proving diverse, amid broader smartphone sales struggles.
Humane’s $699 entry point gets you the Ai Pin, an extra battery, and an AI charging case. Different color options start at $799. Various accessories are available, ranging from $29 to $49, while the mandatory subscription service will run at $24/month. As a sign of good faith, Humane is throwing in three free months with the purchase of a pin.
