Prominent Startup Humane Cuts Staff Amid Restructuring

Humane company said that this layoff is part of the organizational restructuring to prepare for the next phase of the company's business.

Humane, the high-profile startup that launched the highly anticipated "AI Pin" just two months ago, announced a 4% reduction in staff on Tuesday, affecting 10 people. Employees of other larger companies in the tech industry have also been impacted by a wave of layoffs.

CEO and co-founder Bethany Bongiorno described the reduction in staff as a company restructuring in a LinkedIn post, with the aim of transforming the company from a secretive AI startup to a more customer-oriented company. She said that this stage of company development requires "new skills and perspectives," including those related to "AI application development and collaboration with third-party developers." In other words, even though the company is laying off employees, it is also hiring new ones.

Bongiorno said that this transition will help the company focus on building its multimodal AI platform, with developers promising that it will fundamentally change the relationship between humans and computing.

"These growth evolutions may unfortunately mean making difficult decisions for certain individuals, and in this case, we want to express our sincere gratitude to the 10 team members who are parting ways with us," she said regarding the layoffs.

As part of the restructuring, Humane's long-time Chief Technology Officer Patrick Gates will transition to an "advisor" role, Bongiorno also shared. The CEO said that Gates made this decision so that he could "spend more time with his family."

Although Humane describes these job cuts as a realignment, sources say that employees were told the layoffs were part of "cost-cutting." Sources also said that employees were informed that the company's budget for this year would be "lower."

Even though only a small number of employees were laid off, the new year does not start off well for a company that promises to change the world. Indeed, Humane's AI Pin has been touted by its creators as a "revolutionary" product. Executives say that the purpose of AI Pin is to lead the next generation of AI wearable devices, helping humans break free from their dependence on smartphones and reconnect with the real world. AI Pin has no screen and integrates the GPT-4 large language model (LLM), aiming to serve as a communication device and internet portal.

Since its launch in November, Humane has avoided media exposure. The company's executives have not done many interviews and a unfortunate appearance on MSNBC's "Squawk Box" received widespread criticism.