The upcoming release of Humane’s Ai Pin has been pushed back slightly from March to “mid-April,” according to a new video from the startup’s head of media, Sam Schaeffer. He explains that the first units “will start leaving the factory at the end of March.” If Humane sticks to that timeline, “priority access” customers will start receiving the devices sometime in mid-April. The rest of the pre-orders, meanwhile, should arrive “shortly thereafter.”
Humane made quite a bit of tech noise long before its first product was announced, thanks to its founders working at Apple and some cryptic launch videos. Ai Pin was finally unveiled at an event in San Francisco in early November.
The device is the first prominent example of what is likely to be a growing trend in the world of consumer hardware, as more startups look to tap into the hot world of generative AI for new form factors. Humane is positioning its product as the next step for an industry that has been stuck on the smartphone form factor for more than a decade.
Of course, this year will almost certainly be the year of the “AI smartphone” – that is, phones that use GPT platform models from companies like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft to offer new ways of interacting with consumer devices. Meanwhile, at CES last month, rabbit took its unique approach to creating the first consumer device with artificial intelligence.
For its part, Humane has high hopes for this launch. The company has raised about $230 million so far, including last year’s $100 million Series C. There’s a lot to be said for holding off on a product until it’s ready for the consumer. Although early adopters are somewhat familiar with the bugs of the first generation, there is always a limit to such patience. At a minimum, such a product should 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, representing 10% of its total workforce. That’s not a huge number for a startup of this size, but it’s noticeable when it comes to a well-funded company at a time when it needs to win the trust of both consumers and investors.
The Ai Pin is currently available for pre-order for $699. Those who do so by March 31 will receive three months of the $24-a-month device subscription for free.
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