Former Apple Inc. employees have announced that their new company, Humane Inc., has raised $100 million and will launch its first products this spring.
The company, co-founded by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno in 2018, has raised a total of $241 million, but has not yet revealed what it is working on beyond the vague claim that it is developing ” software platform and consumer device built from the ground up for artificial intelligence.”
Based on patent filings and a promotional video, it appears that the company is developing a wearable device that will project data onto the real world and let users interact with it using only their hands.
Humane also announced its partnership with OpenAI, the developer of various artificial intelligence (AI) products like ChatGPT (which can generate human-like conversational text) and Dall-E (which can generate images).
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It was announced on Wednesday that OpenAI founder and former Humane investor am Altman participated in the funding round.
Microsoft Corp., which has developed a massive cloud computing infrastructure tailored to AI, joined the funding round, Humane also revealed. Humane announced that it will utilise Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure in order to bring its software services platform to consumers.
“Our products are built on an integrated device and cloud platform that will allow us, and others, to create AI-driven experiences that feel natural, fun, and needed,” Patrick Gates, another Apple veteran who is Humane’s Chief Technology Officer, said in a statement.
Humane also announced that it is collaborating with LG Electronics Inc, a major electronics manufacturer in South Korea, “on potential (research and development) projects for the next phase of Humane products,” and with Volvo Car’s Tech Fund, “on a potential future collaboration that would be the first example of Humane’s offering being applied to the automotive industry.”
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The company announced on Wednesday that Sam Altman, the creator of OpenAI and a human investor in the past, took part in the funding round.
According to Heumann, Microsoft Corp. also contributed to the round of funding with their extensive cloud computing infrastructure designed for AI.
Humane has announced that it will be collaborating with Microsoft Cloud to bring its software services platform to market. “Our products are built on a unified device and cloud platform that will allow us and others to create AI-powered experiences that feel natural, fun, and essential,” said Patrick Gates, another Apple veteran and chief executive of Humane. technology executives.
Humane also mentioned “potential future collaborations” with Volvo Car’s tech fund and “potential R&D projects for the next phase of Humane products” with LG Electronics Inc of South Korea. Where would one find this happening for the first time? What Humane has to offer is being used in the auto sector. (Stephen Nellis of San Francisco contributed to this report) (Marguerita Choy did the editing.)
