Wearable AI Startup Humane Explores Potential Sale

AI startup Humane has been seeking a buyer for its business, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter, just weeks after the company's closely watched wearable AI device had a rocky public launch. From the report: The company is working with a financial adviser to assist it, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Humane is seeking a price of between $750 million and $1 billion in a sale [non-paywalled link], one person said. The process is still early and may not result in a deal. Humane was founded in 2018 by two longtime Apple veterans, the married couple Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, in an attempt to come up with a new, AI-powered device that could potentially rival the iPhone. Last year it was valued by investors at $850 million, according to tech news site the Information.

750 million dollars sounds like a lot...

[supremebob]

For an overpriced AI device that probably should have just been a smartphone application. I hope that they're willing to negotiate.

Re:750 million dollars sounds like a lot...

[GoJays]

It is worth exactly ZERO. There is nothing here that is useful. The AI backend isn't developed by them and all of the hardware can already be found in even the most basic smartphone. So what exactly are they selling? The only potential buyers would be companies already in AI development who want to secure some useless patent like "rounded corners" to avoid possible legal issues down the road.

Re: 750 million dollars sounds like a lot...

[jasonw61]

That's all it actually is. A smartphone application put into a small box. They already received $30 million in funding to create, and market this device, now they think they're going to get another $15 million, out of this thing, that's no better than vaporware.

That was quick

[bubblyceiling]

The AI bubble is already imploding

Needs more buzzwords

[iAmWaySmarterThanYou]

If it was block chain quantum AI VR wearables they might have something interesting.

Re:

[maudlins11]

And powered by solar too..

Idiotic

[CEC-P]

Rabbit was a scam. This company is garbage too. Nobody wants another battery and data plan in their life. It's worth $0. DO NOT buy this and make sure the dumb boomers at your IRA/401K isn't investing in this garbage either.

Re:

[LazarusQLong]

"Dumb Boomer" here. Yeah, I saw this some months ago and with very little beyond what Siri provides (Not to say Siri is the end all and be all) I decided both not to invest (though I had been 'invited' to) and not to purchase because, $600 + $24/month (early adopter price) It seemed like 80% what I already have in my cell phone and the ability, should it work properly, to project imagery on my palm? Nope, I don't care for that. So, not worth it. Maybe rev 3 or 4 might become interesting, but, will it even s

What? $750 million?

[backslashdot]

Is the company nuts? They tried to sell a glorified bluetooth speaker for $799, so I guess the answer is yes, they are nuts.

Re:

[Rei]

I get what they were going for. But the tech just isn't ready yet, and some things (such as the lack of a screen) will always be iffy, so it obviously should have just been a cell phone accessory. Probably could have worked pretty nice as a cell accessory. But the cell accessory market is hardly as glamorous as the "new device that makes your cell phone obsolete" market.

They also were about a year or two early, and a year or two behind on the frontend devel. Waiting for a cloud response is just not a pra

Re:

[mukundajohnson]

Gotta try to push that snake oil while the hype is high.

joke ...

[kiviQr]

.... ask Alexa how to monetize it first.

is that their yearly operating budget?

[kiviQr]

do they need cash infusion to keep it alive?

Exactly as predicted

[strUser_Name]

I think one of the first articles on Slashdot about Humane and their wearable AI had a notable comment stating something to the effect of "Start a company with unique / unlikely product, attract investors, get paid, sell company."

Sale? Of what?

[aldousd666]

Do they have valuable intellectual property? I'd say a failed product doesn't count as much in the way of equity. Nobody is going to pay a premium for something that's been proven not to make any money. And it wasn't like they were just one step away or need one more thing to make it work. They just outright failed on all fronts to do anything. I've seen videos of people trying to get it to answer the same questions as the demo and it doesn't even recognize their input correctly. This is trash and whoever i

Instant failing startup

[OrangeTide]

You too can be the proud owner of a failing AI startup. Impress your friends. Be the envy of your neighborhood!
Unlike other startups that takes years to fail, this is an instant startup, Just add cash!(tm)

As someone who would knowâ¦

[thumper666]

The company originally wanted to build just an app

Investors said no, they didnâ(TM)t want to pay app tax, you must build hardware because we want all the revenue plus moat

So they did

Rest is history

tryin to ask high

[ktung]

and hoping someone's dumb enough to negotiate at half way but it's absolutely worthless