Humane, a five-year-old Silicon Valley startup that has received over $200 million in funding, has recently laid off four percent of its employees as part of a wider cost-cutting strategy. The company has also announced that budgets will be lowered this year. The restructuring was made ahead of the scheduled shipment of the company’s first device, an AI-powered pin that is being pitched as a smartphone replacement. The pin costs $699 and does not have a screen. The device was unveiled to the world in November, and pre-orders were accepted with shipments planned to begin in March.
Humane has called this restructuring a part of its wider rehaul of the organizational structure as it evolves for the next phase of growth. The affected employees were informed of the decision both verbally and in writing by the company. In addition to the restructuring, the company has also announced that its founding CTO, Patrick Gates, will be stepping down from his position and transitioning to an advisor role in order to spend more time with his family. The company has promoted new heads of hardware, software, and people as part of the reorganization.
Bethany Bongiorno, who was previously a software engineer at Apple, founded Humane in 2019 and is now serving as the company’s CEO. Imran Chaudhri, who previously held the role of director of design on Apple’s human interface team, is serving as the chairman and president at Humane. Gates, the former CTO, held a senior director of engineering position at Apple before joining Humane.
