Welcome back to Week in Review. This week we’re looking at the internal chaos surrounding HP’s $116 million acquisition of AI Pin maker Humane; Mira Murati’s new AI venture coming out of stealth; Duolingo killing its iconic owl mascot with a Cybertruck; and more! Let’s get into it.
Humane’s AI pin is dead. The hardware startup announced that most of its assets have been acquired by HP for $116 million, less than half of the $240 million it raised in VC funding. The startup will immediately discontinue sales of its $499 AI Pins, and after February 28, the wearable will no longer connect to Humane’s servers. After that, the devices won’t be capable of calling, messaging, AI queries/responses, or cloud access. Customers who bought an AI Pin in the last 90 days are eligible for a refund, but anyone who bought a device before then is not.
Hours after the HP acquisition was announced, several Humane employees received job offers from HP with pay increases between 30% and 70%, plus HP stock and bonus plans, according to internal documents seen by TechCrunch and two sources who requested anonymity. Meanwhile, other Humane employees — especially those who worked closer to the AI Pin devices — were notified they were out of a job.
Apple’s long-awaited iPhone SE refresh has been revealed, three years after the last major update to the budget-minded smartphone. The 16e is part of an exclusive group of handsets capable of running Apple Intelligence due to the addition of an A18 processor. The iPhone 16e also ditched the Touch ID home button in favor of Face ID and swapped out the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. The iPhone 6e starts at $599 and will begin shipping February 28.
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RIP, Duo: Duolingo “killed” its iconic owl mascot with a Cybertruck, and the marketing stunt is going surprisingly well. The company launched a campaign to save Duo — and encourage users to do more lessons — as the company says it’s “Duo or die.” Read more
OpenAI “uncensors” ChatGPT: OpenAI no longer wants ChatGPT to take an editorial stance, even if some users find it “morally wrong or offensive.” That means ChatGPT will now offer multiple perspectives on controversial subjects in an effort to be neutral. Read more
Uber vs. DoorDash: Uber is suing DoorDash, accusing its delivery rival of stifling competition by intimidating restaurant owners into exclusive deals. Uber alleges that DoorDash bullied restaurants into only working with them. Read more
