The AI companion device that turned New York City subway ads into a referendum on artificial friendship has a sequel.
Friend, the startup founded by Avi Schiffmann, has announced a new version of its AI pendant that includes a speaker, so the device can reply out loud instead of only messaging you. Wired, which broke the news, reports the new necklace costs $249 — up from the original's $129 — with an optional $10 monthly subscription.
Wired also notes a significant change in how the companion works: you can no longer change its personality. The first Friend let owners shape who their AI companion was. The relaunched version does not.
The Verge framed the relaunch by recalling how Friend became notorious in the first place: the company spent $1.8 million of the $2.5 million it had raised to buy the domain friend.com, then blanketed the NYC subway with ads promoting artificial companionship — a campaign that drew heavy public backlash. Wired describes the product as Schiffmann's "controversial AI companion."
The move from text to speech is the substantive shift here. A device that whispers back in your ear all day is a different social object than one that pings your phone, and it pushes the wearable AI category — already littered with underwhelming launches — toward something closer to an always-present voice.
The price is the other tell. Doubling to $249 while adding a subscription suggests Friend is aiming at committed buyers rather than curious ones, and removing personality customization means the company, not the owner, now decides who your AI friend is.
It matters because Friend is one of the first companies asking consumers to pay real money, monthly, for a piece of hardware whose entire purpose is emotional attachment — and the answer will tell us whether the backlash was noise or the market's verdict.