Friend releases upgraded AI pendant with voice speaker and new pricing

Friend’s second-generation AI pendant, displayed by CEO Avi Schiffmann in his San Francisco home, now includes a speaker on its underside, allowing the device to vocalize responses instead of texting only. The redesign makes the back of the necklace thicker, and the AI runs the latest OpenAI models, delivering a fixed voice and personality for each unit. Priced at $249, the pendant is $120 more than the original, and users may subscribe for $10 a month to retain conversation history beyond 30 days.

Schiffmann, who rose to fame at 17 for a pandemic-tracking website, has faced backlash over the product’s perceived dystopian nature and a 2025-2026 ad campaign that was graffitied in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Paris. He argues the marketing is intentionally analog to spark human interaction. While the first batch of 5,000 units sold, the company aims to ship 50,000 of the new model, though it may withdraw from the EU due to GDPR costs.