Charger recall spells more bad news for Humane’s maligned AI Pin - Ars Technica

Humane first reported overheating problems with the portable charger in June.

Humane’s AI Pin was already struggling to take off, but the company's troubles deepened on Thursday as it recalled the product's portable charging case.

Humane released the AI Pin in April 2024. It’s a lapel pin that features an integrated camera and speaker, AI voice assistant, and laser projector. The device launched at a $700 starting price before dropping to $500 in June. The AI Pin also requires a subscription ($24 per month without fees). The wearable lacks a screen or app support, and despite marketing claims that it could replace smartphones, initial reviews of the product were abysmal (YouTuber Marques Brownlee famously dubbed the pin "The Worst Product I've Ever Reviewed").

The AI Pin's wireless Charge Case Accessory is sold separately; it differs from the home charging dock included with the AI Pin, which isn't impacted by this week's recall. The Charge Case Accessory is charged via USB-C.

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC’s) recall notice, the Charge Case Accessory's lithium polymer battery can overheat, posing a fire risk. One user reported seeing the accessory overheat and melt while charging, according to the CPSC. There have been no reported injuries or property damage.

Humane has known about potential overheating problems since at least June, when it told users to “immediately stop using and charging your Charge Case Accessory.”

Approximately 10,500 units, which the CPSC says were sold from November 2023 until May, are affected.

On an online support page, Humane said it issued the recall “due to an issue with certain battery cells supplied by a vendor for the Charge Case Accessory," adding that "the issue identified is isolated only to certain battery cells used in the Charge Case Accessory and is not related to the Charge Case Accessory hardware design."

Other Humane charging accessories, like the Charge Pad, are said to be unaffected because Humane doesn’t use the same unnamed vendor for any parts besides the Charge Case Accessory’s battery.

Humane’s statement puts the blame on this anonymous third-party vendor. The company said it realized there was a problem when a user reported a “charging issue while using a third-party USB-C cable and third-party power source.” The company added:

Our investigation determined that the battery supplier was no longer meeting our quality standards and that certain battery cells supplied by this vendor may pose a fire safety risk. As a result, we immediately disqualified this battery vendor while we work to identify a new vendor to avoid such issues and maintain our high quality standards.

Impacted customers can get a refund for the accessory (up to $149) or a replacement via an online form. While refunds will go through within 14 business days, users seeking a replacement Charge Case Accessory have to wait until Humane makes one. That could take three to six months, the San Francisco firm estimates.

In the meantime, Humane is telling customers to properly dispose of their Charge Case Accessories (which means not throwing them in a trash can or the used battery recycling boxes found at some stores).

A well-executed recall in the name of user safety isn’t automatically a death knell for a product, but Humane has already been struggling to maintain a positive reputation, and its ability to sell AI Pins in the long term was already in question before this mishap.

The AI Pin's launch was marred by a myriad of complaints, including the pin's inability to properly clip to some clothing, slow voice responses, short battery life, limitations with the laser projector working outside of dark rooms, and overall limited functionality. Soon after the product was released, The New York Times reported that the company’s founders, two former Apple executives, ignored negative internal reviews and even let go of an engineer who questioned the product. Humane spokesperson Zoz Cuccias admitted to The Verge in August that upon releasing the wearable, Humane “knew we were at the starting line, not the finish line.”

In May, a few months after the AI Pin released, Bloomberg reported that the startup was already trying to sell itself for $750 million to $1 billion.

Further, the AI Pin reportedly has a big return problem. According to an August report from The Verge, only 7,000 sold AI Pins hadn't been returned as of that writing. In June, The New York Times reported that Human had sold 10,000 AI Pins, citing two anonymous sources. Without getting into specifics, however, Cuccias said at the time that The Verge’s report had “financial data” inaccuracies.

In general, consumers seem skeptical about the benefits of AI gadgets. The AI marketing hype that has flooded the scene, especially since the growth of generative AI, can even deter shoppers, as a study published in the Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management in June suggested.

The AI Pin already had an uphill climb before it after reviewers were quick to slam the seemingly rushed product. Now, months after reporting an overheating problem and amid reportedly low sales, Humane is refunding customers for the pin’s charging case while already dealing with a reported surplus of refunds for the actual Ai Pin. And it could be months before the company offers a suitable replacement.

With all this in mind, Humane is looking to diversify its business. In addition to reports that it's looking for a buyer, the company on Friday announced plans to expand its software development kit, with the intent of licensing the AI Pin's CosmOS operating system to third parties. With the problems its hardware has endured, Humane is looking to its software to help keep the company afloat.