Today, the embattled AI-wearable-building company Humane has taken yet another blow to its already bruised reputation.
The company is recalling 10,500 of its Ai Pin charging cases after finding that their lithium batteries pose an overheating and fire risk, according to a notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Here’s everything you need to know about the company’s rough past few months and its latest woes:
What is Humane?
Humane is a tech company founded by Imran Chaudhri, former director of design at Apple. For months, the company built hype—and collected hundreds of millions of dollars—for its $699 Ai Pin, a wearable device imagined as the ultimate remedy to the woes of the mobile phone era.
Before the product even hit the market, Fast Company global design editor Mark Wilson, who’d seen the wearable in demos, argued that it hadn’t “fundamentally solved any significant problems.” And after the device launched in April, reviews were roundly terrible. David Pierce wrote for The Verge, “The AI Pin is an interesting idea that is so thoroughly unfinished and so totally broken in so many unacceptable ways that I can’t think of anyone to whom I’d recommend spending the $699 for the device and the $24 monthly subscription.” Popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee called it the “worst product I’ve ever reviewed.” Suffice it to say, no one was happy.
Where does Humane stand now?
After the influx of negative reviews, The New York Times reported that Humane was seeking a buyer just a week after its debut, asking for more than $1 billion for the company. One reportedly interested party was HP, though nothing was ultimately confirmed.
In August, The Verge published a damning report examining internal sales data from the company, which revealed that Humane seemed to be having a major problem with product returns. At the time, the report noted, around 10,000 Ai Pins and accessories had shipped in total. Of those, it said only around 8,000 hadn’t been returned to the company. The numbers were a far cry from Humane’s reported sales goal of 100,000 units in its first year. In all, The Verge’s report found, the pins had brought in just $9 million in lifetime sales (compared to hundreds of millions raised), with at least $1 million worth of product subsequently being returned to the company.
A spokesperson told The Verge that there were “inaccuracies” in some of its reporting on Humane’s financial data, though she didn’t specify which sums were inaccurate.
So, what happened with the batteries?
Back in June, Humane warned owners of its Ai Pin to stop using the accompanying charging case “immediately” due to a fire risk from its lithium batteries. Customers were told that an internal investigation into the third-party vendor supplying its chargers found that the company “was no longer meeting our quality standards and that there is a potential that certain battery cells supplied by this vendor may pose a fire safety risk.” The charging case was sold separately from the Pins for about $150.
As of October 31, that warning has been bumped to an official recall. According to the notice, “The firm has received one report of a charge case overheating and melting during charging,” but “no injuries or property damage have been reported.” The recall would appear to support The Verge’s estimate that around 10,000 total pins were shipped, as it notes that the number of impacted units is 10,500.
Is this an unusual problem?
Lithium battery recalls aren’t unheard of in the tech industry. Major companies including Apple and Samsung have issued large-scale recalls over concerns regarding overheating batteries. The main issue for Humane, though, is that this slipup is one more dent in an already battered image—and, for a company potentially courting a future buyer, it couldn’t come at a worse time.
What has Humane said about the issue?
Humane took to X with a statement on the recall. The company said that, after its investigation into the third-party charger supplier, “The vendor has since been disqualified. The issue is isolated to battery cells used in the Charge Case Accessory. It is not related to its hardware design. Humane’s Ai Pin, Battery Booster(s) and Charge Pad are not affected as the disqualified vendor does not supply batteries for those products. We have identified a new battery cell vendor for the Charge Case Accessory and are conducting a thorough qualification process.”
The company anticipates that new accessories will be available in three to six months.
What to do if you have an AI Pin case
According to the recall notice, you should “immediately stop using the recalled Charge Case Accessory and contact Humane to receive a full refund or free replacement.” Lithium batteries should not be disposed of in the trash—instead, look into your local and state ordinances to determine how to dispose of the charging case.