Humane slashes the price of its AI Pin after weak sales

Humane is dropping the price of the AI Pin by $200 in an attempt to reverse the AI gadget's very poor sales. The product launched earlier this year at $699, but now, you can buy one starting at $499.

This $499 version is the "eclipse" model that is a matte black anodized aluminum, and it doesn't come with an extra battery or the charge case. The latter makes some sense given that the company warned AI Pin owners not to use the charge case because it found some battery cells from a vendor "may pose a fire safety risk."

You can still buy an extra battery separately for $69. And even though you can buy an AI Pin for a lower price, the gadget still requires a $24 per month wireless subscription.

The AI Pin launched this year to very poor reviews. In the time since, Humane has released updates to the device's CosmOS software to add missing features like timers. The AI Pin has seriously struggled to gain traction; for a few months this year, daily returns had outpaced sales, my colleague Kylie Robison reported this summer.

Humane's store also lists the white and black AI Pin models with polished aluminum (technically, "lunar" and "equinox"). Each is available for $799 as part of a "complete system" (though both are currently sold out) that comes with an extra battery pack and the charging case.