AI
Friend 2 Pendant Gets a Voice—and a $120 Price Hike
The updated AI companion necklace now speaks aloud using OpenAI's latest models, with each device arriving pre-loaded with its own personality.
WIRED — AI
Friend's second-generation pendant, unveiled this week by the startup's 24-year-old CEO Avi Schiffmann, introduces a crucial upgrade: the ability to converse out loud rather than solely through text messages. A speaker mounted on the back of the necklace allows the AI to voice its responses, fundamentally altering how users might interact with their digital companion.
What's New#
The redesigned pendant now runs OpenAI's latest models and ships with a built-in personality and voice that cannot be customized. Each device carries its own preset character traits, meaning users accept whatever voice and quirks come in the box. The added speaker component has made the pendant physically bulkier on its underside compared to its predecessor, which operated silently.
The price reflects these enhancements: the new version costs $249, up sharply from the original $129. A $10 monthly subscription option extends conversation memory beyond the standard 30-day window, letting the AI retain longer-term context of your exchanges.
The Friend Phenomenon#
Schiffmann first rose to prominence as a teenager in 2020 when he built a website tracking COVID-19 cases. The Friend pendant has since become far more recognizable—though often for controversial reasons. The company's subway advertising blitz across New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Paris sparked substantial backlash, with critics arguing the campaigns devalued humanity and promoted an unsettling vision of AI companionship. Graffiti vandalism of the ads and heated media coverage eventually overshadowed the actual product launch.
Schiffmann's Counterintuitive Vision#
Despite championing a futuristic AI device, Schiffmann presents himself as surprisingly analog-leaning. He claims no internet connection in his San Francisco home, listens to vinyl records, and is filming a documentary on Kodak Ektachrome stock. He argues his print-based ad campaign was itself deliberately low-tech, designed to spark human conversation rather than frictionless digital engagement.
The company has released promotional videos featuring actual Friend users—many grappling with loneliness or depression—which Schiffmann describes as an honest reflection of the device's real-world utility. He dismisses concerns about the device's dystopian reputation and seems to embrace the controversy as part of the product's identity.
