Sam Altman-Backed Humane Wanted to Be the Next Smartphone. Now It Has $1 Million Worth of Returned Ai Pins. Where did the Ai Pin go wrong?

Earlier this year, Humane was a promising AI wearable startup intent on creating a device that would replace the smartphone. It raised over $200 million from big names, including Microsoft, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, to develop a device that can make calls, send texts, answer questions, and translate from one language to another. The Pin has a laser projector that beams a screen onto your palm, which can then be manipulated by a user tilting their palm or pinching their index finger and thumb together.

Its husband-wife co-founders, Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, have solid credentials as former Apple directors of design, and software engineering, respectively. Chaudhri first offered a sneak peek at the Ai Pin during a May 2023 TED Talk that was viewed nearly two million times.

Now, more customers are returning Humane's flagship product, the $699 Ai Pin, than buying it.

Related: This Futuristic Wearable Smartphone Alternative Projects a Screen on Your Palm

^{Humane Ai Pin screen. Credit: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images}

The Verge obtained internal data on Wednesday showing Humane's $9 million lifetime sales of the Ai Pin have been clouded by $1 million worth of returned products since the products's release in April. From May to August, within a couple of months after release, more Ai Pins were sent back than bought, per the data.

What went wrong with the Ai Pin?

Despite a promising start, and a shoutout as one of TIME's best inventions of 2023, the Ai Pin promised features that it didn't fully deliver on, according to early reviews.

YouTube tech reviewer, Marques Brownlee, who has close to 20 million subscribers, said the Pin was "the worst product I've ever reviewed." Brownlee said it took a long time to respond to questions and often got things wrong. He said it also overheated at times, misheard him more than once, and felt like "a warm puck on his chest," which was noticeable throughout the day.

The Verge's Victoria Song tried the translation feature and found it could not translate simple phrases in Japanese and Korean.

Engadget's Cherlynn Low noticed that when she tried to take multiple pictures, the device would get overheated and shut down because it was overworked. Low also said that on a cloudy, rainy day, she couldn't read the screen on her palm.

^{Humane Ai Pin. Credit: Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images.}

If a customer returns a pin, Humane can't resell it as a refurbished product, according to The Verge's report, because of a T-Mobile limitation that links one device to one person.

Around 10,000 Pins have been sold so far this year, which is short of Humane's 100,000 goal for the year, per The New York Times.