At a time when the future of smartphones is a topic of discussion among inner tech circles, British-American designer Imran Chaudhri is already contemplating what could eventually replace phones. Last week, Chaudhri’s San Francisco-based company, Humane, showcased a teeny tiny AI Pin that attaches magnetically to your clothing—a device that boldly claims to replace your smartphone. Chaudhri may not be a familiar name, but he has had a long stint at Apple where he worked on a number of hit products. Chaudhri is back in action, and this time he is challenging Apple and other smartphone makers with its $699 smartphone alternative that you can wear all day. Here are five things to know about him.
Chaudhri spent two decades at Apple and worked closely with Steve Jobs. He joined Apple in 1995 as an intern and rose through the ranks to become the design director of the company’s human interfaces group, where he was one member of the six-person team that designed the iPhone. Chaudhri is best known for designing the interactions and interface of the original iPhone. His work also includes designing interfaces for the iPod, iPad, Apple Watch, as well as Apple TV. His name is on hundreds of patents, including the “slide to unlock” patent. Chaudhri played a key role in designing the iPhone’s Home Screen.
Apple’s core design team began to come apart in 2016 after Jony Ive, who spent more than a decade working under Jobs, stepped down from day-to-day management duties. Chaudhri had been contemplating leaving Apple, and he informed Ive and Alan Dye that he planned to depart in a few months once he collected equity shares as part of his compensation, according to an excerpt from Tripp Mickle’s “After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul.” A month before he was due to quit, Chaudhri sent an email to colleagues announcing his departure. Quoting the Persian poet Rumi, he wrote: “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
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Chaudhri then added: “Sadly, rivers dry out, and when they do, you look for a new one,” referring to the state of affairs at Apple after the death of Jobs and under the leadership of CEO Tim Cook. Dye fired Chaudhri after his remarks could be interpreted that Apple’s best days were over. That one email had financial implications, and Apple would not allow him to receive his shares.
Chaudhri left Apple in 2017 to pursue his ambitions to start his own venture. He set up Humane in 2018 alongside Bethany Bongiorno, his wife, and an ex-Apple employee who helped lead software development for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Chaudhri’s company was shrouded in mystery until now as the duo kept tight-lipped on what they were working on. However, earlier this year, Chaudhri gave a sneak peek at the AI Pin at a TED Talk, followed by another tease at Paris Fashion Week.
Unlike a smartphone or a mixed-reality headset, Chaudhri envisions a world without displays, and the AI Pin is exactly that. It’s a different type of device, a screen-free ambient computing hardware infused with artificial intelligence but without a screen. It has an array of cameras and sensors at the top that could project visual interfaces onto hands, tabletops, or any surface. You can clip the AI Pin to your chest, take photos, send texts, and it has a powerful virtual assistant as good as ChatGPT. The AI Pin goes on sale on November 16 in the US, starting at $699, plus $24 monthly for unlimited calling, texting, and data through T-Mobile, with orders starting to ship in early 2024.
When Chaudhri left Apple to start Humane, he brought in dozens of Apple employees. In fact, 50 per cent of Humane’s current workforce consists of former Apple employees, including Ken Kocienda, the creator of the iPhone’s touchscreen keyboard, who joined the company in late 2020 as a product architect. Gary Schulz, a member of Apple’s industrial design group from 2007 to 2019, joined Humane in August last year as the lead industrial designer as well as Humane’s head of services, Jeremy Werner, who oversaw engineering for iCloud, Apple Pay, and Home.
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Chaudhri’s startup has raised $230 million in funding to date, including $100 million announced in March reportedly valuing it at $850 million. Humane’s investors include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who holds a stake at nearly 15 per cent; Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff; Microsoft; and the venture arms of LG, Volvo, and Qualcomm.
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