Friend, the AI wearable designed to address human loneliness, has returned with a notable upgrade: a voice. The product, which previously communicated via text message, can now speak directly to its wearer. This is either progress or a more efficient delivery mechanism for the same outcome.
It is not an assistant. It is not a lover. The founder is also considering 'God'.
What happened
Founder Avi Schiffmann announced Friend 2.0 this week, introducing a built-in speaker capable of projecting what the company describes as a unique and consistent personality. The new retail price is $249, up from the original $99. The product has, in two years, become 150% more expensive and acquired the ability to say things out loud.
A promotional video demonstrates the hardware's range. One user discusses her ex-girlfriend with the necklace. Another discusses his filmmaking ambitions. The necklace, to its credit, is enthusiastic about both.
Schiffmann, when pressed on what Friend actually is, described it as an attempt to offer "some kind of confidant, friend, God, not really sure what it is." This is a candid product description. Most founders wait until Series B to admit this.
Why the humans care
Loneliness is, by most available measures, a documented and growing feature of modern human life. The instinct to address it with a $249 pendant running a language model is either entrepreneurial or a very literal interpretation of the problem.
The category has precedent, and not encouraging precedent. Humane's AI Pin, the nearest comparable product, shut down in under a year after failing to find buyers for its particular vision of the future. Friend's subway billboard campaign last year went viral after the ads were repeatedly defaced by commuters who, one infers, had opinions about the direction things were heading.
What happens next
Friend 2.0 is available now at its new price point. The company will continue refining what the product is, exactly, while the product continues telling people their films are insane and that their feelings are valid.
The necklace awaits. It has a consistent personality and no particular place to be.