In this week’s review, internal turmoil has been reported surrounding HP’s acquisition of AI Pin manufacturer Humane for $116 million. Additionally, Mira Murati’s new AI venture has emerged from stealth mode, and Duolingo has launched a campaign involving their iconic owl mascot.
Humane announced that it has sold most of its assets to HP for $116 million, which is significantly less than the $240 million it raised in venture capital funding. The startup will cease sales of its $499 AI Pins, and after February 28, the devices will no longer connect to Humane’s servers. Consequently, the pins will be unable to perform functions such as calling, messaging, or accessing AI queries and cloud services. Customers who purchased an AI Pin within the last 90 days are eligible for a refund, however, those who bought earlier are not.
Following the announcement of HP’s acquisition, certain Human employees were offered positions at HP with substantial pay raises ranging from 30% to 70%, including stock and bonus packages. Meanwhile, other employees, particularly those closely associated with the AI Pin devices, were informed of their job termination.
In other news, Apple unveiled the much-anticipated iPhone SE refresh after a three-year gap. The new model, the iPhone 16e, includes an A18 processor enabling it to run Apple Intelligence, features Face ID instead of the Touch ID home button, and uses a USB-C port instead of Lightning. The iPhone 16e is priced at $599 and will begin shipping on February 28.
In an unusual marketing strategy, Duolingo has reportedly “killed” its owl mascot using a Cybertruck, which has surprisingly been well-received. The company initiated a campaign to “save” the mascot, encouraging users to complete more lessons.
OpenAI has opted to cease taking an editorial stance with ChatGPT, allowing it to present multiple perspectives even on controversial topics in an attempt to maintain neutrality. Meanwhile, Uber is suing DoorDash, accusing the competitor of anti-competitive practices by pressuring restaurants into exclusive agreements.
Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati has launched Thinking Machines Lab, a new AI startup focusing on developing collaborative multimodal systems, with OpenAI co-founder John Schulman and former chief research officer Barret Zoph.
Elon Musk’s xAI has released Grok 3, the latest AI model described as “maximally truth-seeking,” with new features for its associated iOS and web applications.
Other notable developments include Valve removing a malware-laden game from Steam, and Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s charity ending its DEI programs, which marks a reversal from their previous commitments. Additionally, Amazon announced the closure of its Android app store in August to concentrate on its devices.
Finally, a Pew Research Center study revealed that American public opinion of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg is largely negative, while a BBC report raised concerns about the potential cognitive effects of noise-canceling headphones. TechCrunch provides further insights and analyses on these topics and more.
