“This will unlock new levels of functionality for our customers and deliver on the promises of AI,” Tuan Tran, HP president of technology and innovation, said in a statement.
HP Inc. plans to buy software and intellectual property assets from artificial intelligence consumer electronics company Humane for $116 million in a deal set to close at the end of this month.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based maker of PCs, printers and other accessories will buy Humane’s AI-powered Cosmos platform and more than 300 of the company’s patents and patent applications under a definitive agreement disclosed in an HP statement late Tuesday.
The acquisition “advances HP’s transformation into a more experience-led company,” according to the HP statement.
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As part of the deal, a group of “highly skilled” Humane engineers, architects and product workers will join the HP Technology and Innovation organization and form HP IQ, an AI innovation lab focused on HP’s products and services for the future of work, according to HP.
“This investment will rapidly accelerate our ability to develop a new generation of devices that seamlessly orchestrate AI requests both locally and in the cloud,” said Tuan Tran, HP president of technology and innovation, in the HP statement. “Humane’s AI platform Cosmos, backed by an incredible group of engineers, will help us create an intelligent ecosystem across all HP devices from AI PCs to smart printers and connected conference rooms. This will unlock new levels of functionality for our customers and deliver on the promises of AI.”
CRN has reached out to HP for additional comment.
This year HP is working to increase the amount of net new accounts coming through partners and work together with channel partners to continue reshaping the way customers work, ensuring solutions are built for the future of work, according to the profile for Scott Lannum, VP and general manager of North America commercial channel sales at HP, in the CRN 2025 Channel Chiefs.
Humane co-founders Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri will join HP, according to the statement.
“We’re excited to join HP at such a pivotal moment in the industry and help shape the future of intelligent experiences,” the statement quoted Bongiorno and Chaudhri as saying. “HP’s scale, global reach, and operational excellence—combined with our design-led approach, integration technology, and engineering expertise—will redefine workforce productivity.”
Not part of the acquisition deal is the Humane Ai Pin, a voice-powered wearable with wide-angled optical sensors for capturing and analyzing visual data.
Ai Pin is no longer available for new purchases, with devices unable to connect to Humane servers starting at noon PT on Feb. 28, according to Humane. At that time, all customer data will be permanently deleted from Humane servers. Customers whose devices shipped on or after Nov. 15 are eligible for a refund.
Humane bills Cosmos as an operating system for AI, providing personalized assistance and handling complex tasks across a variety of connected devices, including workstations and wearables. The OS can orchestrate agents and large language models (LLMs), according to Humane’s website.
In 2023, Humane reported raising $100 million in a Series C funding round that included participation from Microsoft, LG Technology Ventures, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Qualcomm Ventures and OpenAI founder Sam Altman.
