Friend announced a new version of the Friend AI pendant on Thursday, adding the one feature that makes an AI companion harder to ignore in public: it can now answer out loud. The update turns Avi Schiffmann’s wearable from a text-reply gadget into a talking necklace, while also nearly doubling the price.
The first Friend device was a wearable microphone meant to listen to the user and respond by text message, according to WIRED. The second model adds a speaker on the back of the circular pendant, which makes the underside thicker than before. WIRED reported that the device also now runs OpenAI’s latest models, the kind of large language models that generate responses by predicting likely text from a prompt and conversation history.
What is the Friend AI pendant?
Friend is a necklace-style AI companion that users can talk to over long conversations. Schiffmann’s pitch is emotional rather than utilitarian: the device is meant to behave like a companion, not a meeting transcriber or productivity assistant wearing jewelry.
The new version changes how that companionship is packaged. Each pendant ships with its own preset voice and personality, according to WIRED. Buyers cannot change the voice or the name, so the device’s character is part of the hardware experience, for better or for worse.
Friend is selling the new pendant for $249 through Friend.com. The original model cost $129. WIRED previously reported that Schiffmann paid $1.8 million for the Friend.com domain. The company is also offering a $10 monthly subscription that lets the AI retain conversations for longer than 30 days. Schiffmann told WIRED that accessories, including colorful cords like the one he wore during the demonstration, are planned for later this year.
Why has Friend drawn so much backlash?
Friend has attracted attention less for sales volume than for the bad vibes around an AI device marketed as companionship. Critics have compared the idea to dystopian fiction, and the company’s ad campaign made sure the complaint had plenty of oxygen.
According to WIRED, Friend placed ads in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago in 2025, then in Paris in early 2026. The campaign drew graffiti, complaints about AI-mediated relationships and a run of hostile commentary. Schiffmann told WIRED he sees the product as futuristic in public perception, while presenting it through old-fashioned physical advertising.
Schiffmann, now 24, first became known in 2020 after building a Covid-19 tracking website as a teenager. His current company has leaned into a stranger cultural lane. WIRED reported that Friend later released four customer videos focused on people dealing with loneliness or depression. Schiffmann said the choice was intentional because he wanted to show who was actually using the device.
The business target is bigger this time. Schiffmann told WIRED he sold the first batch of 5,000 pendants and wants to sell 50,000 units of the new version. He also said Friend may stop selling in the European Union because complying with the General Data Protection Regulation would be too costly.
That makes the new talking pendant a test of whether Friend can move beyond being a controversy machine with a microphone. A speaker, a fixed personality and longer paid memory make the product more assertive. They also make the privacy and social questions harder to wave away as just marketing noise.
This story draws on original reporting from WIRED.
