Humane has issued an urgent warning to all AI Pin owners, advising them to "immediately" stop using the device's charging case. The alert comes after the company identified a significant fire safety risk associated with the charging case's battery cells.
Why It Matters
This critical issue highlights the potential dangers of faulty battery cells and underscores the importance of product safety in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.
The Problem
In an email to customers, including The Verge’s David Pierce, Humane stated that a third-party vendor discovered a quality issue with the battery cells. The company received a report of a charging issue when a user employed a third-party USB-C cable and power source. Subsequent investigations revealed that the vendor’s battery cells might pose a fire risk.
Immediate Actions
- Vendor Disqualification: Humane has disqualified the problematic vendor and is identifying a new supplier to ensure future safety and quality.
- Non-Affected Components: The issue is isolated to the charging case. Humane assured that the AI Pin, the magnetic Battery Booster, and its charging pad are unaffected and safe to use.
- Compensation: To compensate for the inconvenience, Humane offers customers two free months of its subscription service, essential for the device's primary functionalities.
Company Communication
Despite the severity of the issue, Humane still needs to post an official statement on its website or social media accounts. The company communicated the following via email:
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Email from Humane
Dear AI Pin Owner,
Out of an abundance of caution, we are reaching out today to ask that you immediately stop using and charging your Charge Case Accessory due to an issue with certain battery cells for the Charge Case Accessory.
Upon receiving a single report of a charging issue while using a third-party USB-C cable and third-party power source, we identified a quality issue with the battery cell supplied by a third-party vendor used in your Charge Case Accessory.
Our investigation determined that the battery supplier was no longer meeting our quality standards and that there is a potential that certain battery cells supplied by this vendor may pose a fire safety risk. As a result, we immediately disqualified this battery vendor while we work to identify a new vendor to avoid such issues and maintain our high-quality standards.
The issue identified is isolated only to certain battery cells used in the Charge Case Accessory and is not related to the Charge Case Accessory hardware design.
Importantly, Humane’s AI Pin, its Battery Booster(s), and Charge Pad are not affected as the disqualified vendor does not supply batteries or any other components of those Humane products and are safe for continued use.
While we know this may cause an inconvenience to you, customer safety is our priority at Humane. We design AI Pin and related accessories with safety top of mind and rigorously test and certify them to applicable US and international safety standards.
We appreciate your understanding and will be providing you with two additional months free of the Humane subscription.
Rest assured we are committed to your safety and satisfaction and will share additional information when we have concluded our investigation.
The Humane Team
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Next Steps
Humane is actively investigating the issue and plans to share further information once the investigation concludes. For now, customers are urged to follow the guidance and discontinue use of the charging case immediately.