Humane’s AI Pin Seeing More Daily Returns Than Sales

Humane’s $699 USD AI Pin, released in April, has seen a significant number of returns, with internal sales data revealing that from May to August, returns outpaced purchases, according to sales data seen by The Verge.

By June, only approximately 8,000 units remained unreturned, and as of today, that number has dropped closer to 7,000, according to a source familiar with the data.

Despite over $9 million USD in lifetime sales from the AI Pin and its accessories, the company has faced considerable setbacks. Around 1,000 purchases were canceled before shipping, and over $1 million USD worth of products have been returned.

These figures stand in stark contrast to the more than $200 million USD raised from investors like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. To date, about 10,000 AI Pins and accessories have shipped, falling short of the initial goal of 100,000 units within the first year, reported The New York Times. 

Zoz Cuccias, a spokesperson for Humane, disputed The Verge’s financial reporting, stating, “We have nothing else to provide as we do not comment on financial data and will refer it to our legal counsel.”

Sources also confirmed that returned AI Pins cannot be refurbished due to a T-Mobile limitation preventing reassignment to new users, rendering them e-waste.

“We knew we were at the starting line, not the finish line,” Cuccias noted in an email, adding that several software updates have been released to address user feedback.

What gave the Humane AI Pin buzz was the fact it was started by two former Apple engineers. But the AI Pin requires a monthly cellular subscription and doesn’t work very well at all. Initial reviews slammed the device and it’s been a disaster ever since. It seems we now have a bigger picture of just how bad this product really is.