Humane permanently disabled all $700 AI Pins, but enthusiasts brought them back to life

The day before, Humane shut down all of its servers, and along with them, the AI ​​Pin devices, including those that were working and still functional at the time. Enthusiasts managed to at least partially bring the gadgets back to life, although it was extremely difficult, writes Wired.

Image source: humane.com

Humane’s servers went offline around noon Pacific Time on February 28, causing all of the AI ​​Pins, which once cost $700 and were less than a year old, to stop working. A few minutes later, a member of the device’s Discord community posted a tutorial that bypasses the AI ​​Pin’s encryption protection.

The Humane AI Pin was a shining example of an AI device that disappointed the market and consumers. It was a cute gadget that clipped to a jacket lapel or shirt pocket and performed functions traditionally associated with smartphones: taking photos, displaying text messages, and sending requests to an AI-powered chatbot — with the added bonus of a holographic projection display. The device disappointed the public almost immediately after its launch in April 2024: its basic functions simply didn’t work properly. In February 2025, less than a year later, Humane’s assets were sold to HP for $116 million, and its servers were shut down. Only those customers who purchased the AI ​​Pin within the last 90 days were offered refunds.

This decision was extremely disappointing for the owners of the devices. The official Humane server stopped working on the morning of February 27, but the community launched an unofficial alternative called reHumane, where they began to discuss ways to understand the mechanisms of the AI ​​Pin without the participation of Humane and HP. As it turned out, the basis for the software platform of the device was Google Android, which means that the system can be put into debug mode or install applications on it – at least in theory. But to do this, you need to connect the gadget to a computer. Humane services stopped working along with the ability to connect to devices wirelessly. Hidden connectors were found under the moon-shaped sticker, which could have been used to communicate with a computer. But these tiny connectors were only 1 mm in diameter, and no one had suitable cables.

At first, enthusiasts simply cut up four USB cables, picked the one with the most suitable wires, and simply soldered them to the connector. A more elegant solution was found by 30-year-old engineer Brendan Brannock from Florida – he found a compatible device on Amazon and even prepared a 3D model for the docking station, in which the wired connection remained reliable, and posted it on Discord so that anyone with access to a 3D printer could print one for themselves.

Now there was a more difficult problem to solve. Humane intended to completely block the devices, that is, disable the OS after the servers were turned off. The chip inside the gadget has encryption that is difficult to bypass without losing the data and software that makes the AI ​​Pin work properly. But on February 28, the unexpected happened. An anonymous Humane employee gave the community access codes to bypass the encryption and launch debug mode on the device. One of the enthusiasts published a video proving that he made the blocked AI Pin work – along with the projection display.

The future of AI Pin depends on the owner of each specific gadget. Some want the devices to start “shooting lasers”, others want to understand how they work. Still others are satisfied with the standard capabilities – the functions of a smartphone, but without the need to look at the screen.