Humane laid off 4 percent of employees this week in a move described as a cost-cutting measure for those affected, according to sources familiar with the matter.. Leadership recently informed employees that budgets will be reduced this year, said one of the people, who requested anonymity to speak without company permission.
The cuts, numbering 10, come before the five-year-old startup ships its first device: a $699 AI-powered screenless Pin, which is pitched as a smartphone replacement. After much hype and secrecy, Humane revealed the AI Pin to the world in November and began accepting pre-orders, with shipments scheduled to begin in March.
Humane has raised more than $200 million from Silicon Valley celebrities, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. CEO Bethany Bongiorno and her husband Imran Choudhary started the company in 2019 after spending their long careers at Apple.
After I asked Bongiorno to provide a statement for this story, she instead took to LinkedIn to describe the cuts as “part of a broader modernization of our organizational structure as our company evolves with the goal of this next phase of growth.”
Founding CTO Patrick Gates “will also transition to advisor in order to spend more time with his family,” she announced in the post. She said the company promoted new heads of hardware, software and people as part of the reorganization.
In a text message, Bongiorno told me that the cuts “were not communicated as layoffs” to those affected, although sources told me so — verbally and in writing. “It goes without saying that, like every company, we have a responsibility to remain vigilant and proactive, ensuring we have the right roles, the right people, and the right structure in place at every turn,” she said.