Shortly after the launch of the Humane Ai Pin, scathing reviews revealed that the AI gadget was anything but ready for the market, as most of the originally advertised features either didn't work properly or were simply missing, the battery life was far too short and there was hardly any added value compared to a smartphone.

The Vergehas just got its hands on internal data on sales of the Ai Pin, which is downright frightening. From May to August, more Ai Pins are said to have been returned than sold. After the start-up sold around 10,000 units in the weeks after launch, only around 7,000 Ai Pins are now said to be in the hands of end consumers. If the sales of the last few months are taken into account, more than a third of all buyers are likely to have applied for a refund. Humane nevertheless wants to capitalize on the hype surrounding AI products and sell the entire company for over $1 billion without further ado.

After all returns, Humane's total gross sales are expected to be around $8 million, and the original target of 100,000 Ai Pins sold in the first year is now highly unlikely. Returns are costing Humane dearly, as the company is not yet able to refurbish used pins and sell them as refurbished due to restrictions imposed by its partner network operator T-Mobile, meaning that every returned Ai Pin is practically electronic waste. According to The Verge, Humane has not yet disposed of used Ai pins in the hope of solving this problem with T-Mobile.