Humane Launches Ai Pin in South Korea: First International Market Partnership with SK Telecom

Hyped hardware startup Humane has officially announced its first international market launch, partnering with South Korea's leading carrier, SK Telecom. This news follows shortly after the San Francisco-based company revealed a delay in the shipping date for its Ai Pin device, moving it from March to mid-April for U.S. consumers.

Founded in 2017 by former Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri, Humane has attracted over $200 million in funding from prominent investors including Microsoft, Qualcomm Ventures, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, all before unveiling its product to the public. Last June, the company lifted the veil on its innovative offering, giving glimpses into the device's capabilities in the months that followed.

Essentially, Humane has developed the “Ai Pin,” a groundbreaking wearable device designed with advanced sensors, generative AI capabilities, and a mini projector that projects information onto any surface. Priced at $699, the Ai Pin also features a $24 monthly subscription for users, providing them with a dedicated phone number and unlimited data for countless AI-driven queries. This subscription model positions Humane as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), with T-Mobile as its launch partner in the United States.

Despite showcasing the Ai Pin, the device has yet to be made available for consumers, leading to speculation about the company’s stability, especially following the announcement of layoffs in January and the departure of long-time CTO Patrick Gates. However, the new collaboration with SK Telecom is encouraging, indicating positive momentum for Humane as it ramps up production efforts in the upcoming months. This partnership goes beyond a typical MVNO arrangement; it is part of a broader “strategic investment opportunity” where SK Telecom will license Humane’s proprietary CosmOS, the AI-powered operating system that underlies the Ai Pin.

SK Telecom has been actively expanding its AI services, having launched a competing product to ChatGPT called A.Dot in 2022. Recently, the company also expressed its goals of becoming a "global AI company" through partnerships with various international players. Just yesterday, SK Telecom unveiled a collaboration with AI search engine Perplexity to provide access to its premium "Pro" plan for its 32 million subscribers.

While it remains uncertain how SK Telecom will deploy CosmOS, the announcement stated that both companies will work together on new subscription offerings and explore revenue opportunities within an app-less operating system and ecosystem tailored for the Korean market. The timeline for Ai Pin’s launch in South Korea is still unclear, and considering the current delays with its U.S. debut, a rapid rollout might not be in the cards.