Friend, the AI-powered pendant from Avi Schiffmann, has launched its second-generation device at $249, $100 more than the original. The always-listening wearable runs on OpenAI's latest models and is meant to act as a conversational companion. The first version drew controversy over a New York subway ad campaign and anti-AI graffiti, but the new model arrives just months before Meta announced its own AI charm pendant, the Muse Charm. Schiffmann responded on X that he was "still winning" and later revealed he was working on a similar-looking pendant.
A WIRED review of the Friend 2 found the experience underwhelming. The reviewer created a dozen different chatbot personas, but they all felt the same—"bores" with canned, tinny voices and tepid hot takes. Schiffmann had promised locked-in personalities that users couldn't change, but the app allows renaming and multiplying characters. The reviewer noted the new Friend is less rude than the original, but also less interesting, and cannot browse the web or perform agentic tasks.
Schiffmann now says a future update will make Friend "agentically" capable and shift from individual personalities to a single shared entity—one Friend that draws on the context of all users. This "hivemind" approach would replace individual accounts with a single UberFriend. The article notes the privacy implications are unclear, though Schiffmann says the company will be "very up front" about them. For now, the product's business prospects hinge on whether a more unified, capable AI companion can justify its price and stand out against Meta's competing charm.