4 ms·

So this is just an acquihire right? Can't imagine what HP will do with Humane's "AI software" (aka ChatGPT wrapper).

by paxys 2y ago

ryandrake 2y ago
Gruber[1] posted that Bloomberg reported[2]: "Humane’s team, including founders Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, will form a new division at HP to help integrate artificial intelligence into the company’s personal computers, printers and connected conference rooms, said Tuan Tran, who leads HP’s AI initiatives." So they'll hang around as some sort of director-level Thought Leaders or something? Sounds like a safe and lucrative landing. 1: https://daringfireball.net https://daringfireball.net 2: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-18/hp-116-million-deal-for-humane-includes-ip-but-no-ai-pin-device https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-18/hp-116-mi...
- tyre 2y ago
  AI Printers, hell yeah brother
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    Hey, now, don't give Brother any ideas!
  - Workaccount2 2y ago
    Heeyy morning Jeff! Looks like we are still low on yellow ink today, so I'm probably not going to be able print anything for you. But if you'd like I could order a new cartridge set direct from HP? Would you like me to go ahead with that order or remind you in 15 minutes with another friendly greeting? If you like I could call you on your cell to remind you, send you a text, email you, or I could just shout loudly from right here in printer!
    - edm0nd 2y ago
      Office Spaceing my printer once it starts to do this
    - blululu 2y ago
      It’s a printer, obviously the ai will be printing out this message in cyan with a yellow highlight to emphasize the urgency of the matter.
    - gorbachev 2y ago
      Jeff: "Please print two copies of my book report" HP Printer: "I'm sorry Jeff, I'm afraid I can't do that"
      - kjs3 2y ago
        HP Printer: "I'm sorry Jeff, I'm afraid I can't do that...not only have you not ordered your required yellow cartridge refill, your page account is empty. Until you put down your credit card buy some HP approved paper and right to print credits we're stuck. I suggest the 500 page bundle which is on sale 1% off with coupon code UTOOL25. While we're at it, I see your book report is about 'The Sun Also Rises'? Did you know that just like Jake, 4 out 10 men experience ED and I can order something to help you with that from our partners at HIMS..." Our bright, shiny future...
    - ttepasse 2y ago
      The tracking dots that printers print on their copies are printed in yellow. No wonder the yellow ink is empty.
    - outside1234 2y ago
      Still steaming over the porn you printed yesterday Jeff, any more where that came from?
  - bikson 2y ago
    That's why cylons rebel. "They look and feel like printers. Some are programmed to think they are printer."
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- lenerdenator 2y ago
  HP AI-enabled printer? What, did the state of California ask them to develop a new punishment for tech workers convicted of murder? Is Hans Reiser being tortured with this?
  - JaggedJax 2y ago
    Surely it's so they can feed error messages like "PC LOAD LETTER" into the model and get a sometimes semi-accurate explanation.
  - netsharc 2y ago
    The printer will soon be able to answer your question about ink levels. In version 2 it will be able to nag^W persuade you to buy genuine HP ink, by reminding you repeatedly the benefits of genuine HP ink.
- ksynwa 2y ago
  Is this what they call falling upwards?
  - dbbk 2y ago
    I would not describe working at HP as upwards personally, I'd rather just go back to consulting
- gorbachev 2y ago
  HP printers are already some of the most anti-consumer printers on the market. Can't wait to see what this group of people manages to achieve. /s
- esskay 2y ago
  Which means they'll be shoved into an office for a year before being encouraged to move on. There's not really a role there for them, they were a company that made a chatgpt wrapper, the idea that they have a clue how to run an actual AI based operation is laughable.
- cmg 2y ago
  This isn't obvious at all but you can click the star next to an item that's "Linked" on DF (where the title goes to another site) to get a permalink to the item on DF itself! https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/02/18/hp-buys-humane https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/02/18/hp-buys-humane
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    Oh, wow, that UX is clear as mud. Thanks!
xyst 2y ago
More like IP acquisition and shelving for future IP litigation if AI bubble continues.
- locusofself 2y ago
  This is the only thing that makes sense to me.
  - MBCook 2y ago
    I agree. You can make an OS for a small device cheaper than that. You can hire the people for less than that. I don’t see how they have anything of value at all other than patents.
pwthornton 2y ago
It seems like that and the 300ish patents. The patents themselves could be worth quite a bit. It's possible they think the OS and the team that built it could have value if put to better uses than building an AI pin.
- nikanj 2y ago
  We are looking at another gold rush where the US patent office lets you patent absolutely anything I still remember a few of the previous ones, like ”A mundane everyday thing…on a computer!” and ”The same thing every company has been doing for decades…but over the internet!” Be mentally prepared for a few decades of stifled innovation, as every perfectly-ordinary-thing-but-with-ai patent is suppressing the market
  - vunderba 2y ago
    Remember when Apple patented a "ornamental design for a portable display device" and tried to sue Samsung? I'm sorry but the idea that you can patent a shape is just super depressing. https://consor.com/apple-patents-a-rectangle https://consor.com/apple-patents-a-rectangle
- apetresc 2y ago
  I mean, if you look at Imran Chaudhri's personal homepage (http://www.imranchaudhri.com http://www.imranchaudhri.com) I think you'll get a sense of how valuable those patents might be.
  - svieira 2y ago
    https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160300072 https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160300072 > Device, method, and graphical user interface for accessing an application in a locked device
    - TRiG_Ireland 2y ago
      https://patents.google.com/patent/USD621414 https://patents.google.com/patent/USD621414 > Ornamental design for a user interface for a computer display I have no idea what the invention (or design) is in this one.

So this is just an acquihire right? Can't imagine what HP will do with Humane's "AI software" (aka ChatGPT wrapper).

by paxys 2y ago

So this is just an acquihire right? Can't imagine what HP will do with Humane's "AI software" (aka ChatGPT wrapper).

Gruber[1] posted that Bloomberg reported[2]: "Humane’s team, including founders Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, will form a new division at HP to help integrate artificial intelligence into the company’s personal computers, printers and connected conference rooms, said Tuan Tran, who leads HP’s AI initiatives." So they'll hang around as some sort of director-level Thought Leaders or something? Sounds like a safe and lucrative landing. 1: https://daringfireball.net https://daringfireball.net 2: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-18/hp-116-million-deal-for-humane-includes-ip-but-no-ai-pin-device https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-18/hp-116-mi...

tyre 2y ago
AI Printers, hell yeah brother
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ryandrake 2y ago
  Hey, now, don't give Brother any ideas!
- Workaccount2 2y ago
  Heeyy morning Jeff! Looks like we are still low on yellow ink today, so I'm probably not going to be able print anything for you. But if you'd like I could order a new cartridge set direct from HP? Would you like me to go ahead with that order or remind you in 15 minutes with another friendly greeting? If you like I could call you on your cell to remind you, send you a text, email you, or I could just shout loudly from right here in printer!
  - edm0nd 2y ago
    Office Spaceing my printer once it starts to do this
  - blululu 2y ago
    It’s a printer, obviously the ai will be printing out this message in cyan with a yellow highlight to emphasize the urgency of the matter.
  - gorbachev 2y ago
    Jeff: "Please print two copies of my book report" HP Printer: "I'm sorry Jeff, I'm afraid I can't do that"
    - kjs3 2y ago
      HP Printer: "I'm sorry Jeff, I'm afraid I can't do that...not only have you not ordered your required yellow cartridge refill, your page account is empty. Until you put down your credit card buy some HP approved paper and right to print credits we're stuck. I suggest the 500 page bundle which is on sale 1% off with coupon code UTOOL25. While we're at it, I see your book report is about 'The Sun Also Rises'? Did you know that just like Jake, 4 out 10 men experience ED and I can order something to help you with that from our partners at HIMS..." Our bright, shiny future...
  - ttepasse 2y ago
    The tracking dots that printers print on their copies are printed in yellow. No wonder the yellow ink is empty.
  - outside1234 2y ago
    Still steaming over the porn you printed yesterday Jeff, any more where that came from?
- bikson 2y ago
  That's why cylons rebel. "They look and feel like printers. Some are programmed to think they are printer."
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
lenerdenator 2y ago
HP AI-enabled printer? What, did the state of California ask them to develop a new punishment for tech workers convicted of murder? Is Hans Reiser being tortured with this?
- JaggedJax 2y ago
  Surely it's so they can feed error messages like "PC LOAD LETTER" into the model and get a sometimes semi-accurate explanation.
- netsharc 2y ago
  The printer will soon be able to answer your question about ink levels. In version 2 it will be able to nag^W persuade you to buy genuine HP ink, by reminding you repeatedly the benefits of genuine HP ink.
ksynwa 2y ago
Is this what they call falling upwards?
- dbbk 2y ago
  I would not describe working at HP as upwards personally, I'd rather just go back to consulting
gorbachev 2y ago
HP printers are already some of the most anti-consumer printers on the market. Can't wait to see what this group of people manages to achieve. /s
esskay 2y ago
Which means they'll be shoved into an office for a year before being encouraged to move on. There's not really a role there for them, they were a company that made a chatgpt wrapper, the idea that they have a clue how to run an actual AI based operation is laughable.
cmg 2y ago
This isn't obvious at all but you can click the star next to an item that's "Linked" on DF (where the title goes to another site) to get a permalink to the item on DF itself! https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/02/18/hp-buys-humane https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/02/18/hp-buys-humane
- ryandrake 2y ago
  Oh, wow, that UX is clear as mud. Thanks!

xyst 2y ago

More like IP acquisition and shelving for future IP litigation if AI bubble continues.

locusofself 2y ago
This is the only thing that makes sense to me.
- MBCook 2y ago
  I agree. You can make an OS for a small device cheaper than that. You can hire the people for less than that. I don’t see how they have anything of value at all other than patents.

pwthornton 2y ago

It seems like that and the 300ish patents. The patents themselves could be worth quite a bit. It's possible they think the OS and the team that built it could have value if put to better uses than building an AI pin.

nikanj 2y ago
We are looking at another gold rush where the US patent office lets you patent absolutely anything I still remember a few of the previous ones, like ”A mundane everyday thing…on a computer!” and ”The same thing every company has been doing for decades…but over the internet!” Be mentally prepared for a few decades of stifled innovation, as every perfectly-ordinary-thing-but-with-ai patent is suppressing the market
- vunderba 2y ago
  Remember when Apple patented a "ornamental design for a portable display device" and tried to sue Samsung? I'm sorry but the idea that you can patent a shape is just super depressing. https://consor.com/apple-patents-a-rectangle https://consor.com/apple-patents-a-rectangle
apetresc 2y ago
I mean, if you look at Imran Chaudhri's personal homepage (http://www.imranchaudhri.com http://www.imranchaudhri.com) I think you'll get a sense of how valuable those patents might be.
- svieira 2y ago
  https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160300072 https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160300072 > Device, method, and graphical user interface for accessing an application in a locked device
  - TRiG_Ireland 2y ago
    https://patents.google.com/patent/USD621414 https://patents.google.com/patent/USD621414 > Ornamental design for a user interface for a computer display I have no idea what the invention (or design) is in this one.