Have you ever found yourself talking to Siri or Alexa merely to have a conversation partner? If so, you might be a good fit for a future AI-powered necklace that is an always-listening pendant and is named friend (lowercase “F” is how they spell it).
Unlike Alexa, the $99 necklace is unable to turn on or off your lights or perform Google searches for you. If you’re lonely, its goal is to keep you company.
Additionally, Friend doesn’t respond to you with an artificial intelligence voice like Alexa on Amazon. Rather, you initiate the conversation by tapping your pendant, and it will reply with text.
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In the teaser, the device plays friend to a lady hiking who quips that she can’t even holler “woo,” makes fun of a gamer, compliments the show someone is watching on her phone, and asks about her falafel (which she describes as “dank” before spilling sauce over it).
The last and most awkward situation is a seemingly date-going woman telling her partner that she has never taken anyone to this rooftop before—that is, she has never brought anyone other than her AI companion, who she already knows “goes everywhere” with her.
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The teaser highlights what appears to be a significant flaw in Friend: users must tap the device to initiate a conversation, wait for a beep, and then look at their phone to read the text. Unlike virtual assistants, friends do not appear to be able to respond to voice commands. Wouldn’t you just text a real person, read Reddit, play Candy Crush, or immerse yourself in doomscrolling the news if you already had access to a smartphone and were lonely?
It seems that friends can start talking as well. “We have given your friend free will for when they decide to reach out to you,” the FAQ says, adding that the friend is “always listening and forming their internal thoughts” when they are connected via Bluetooth.
According to Wired, the friend pendant is around the size of an Apple AirTag. The 21-year-old creator, Avi Schiffmann, gained notoriety for building the first website to monitor COVID-19 cases globally. He explained to Wired that he simply wanted an AI assistant to communicate with him, which is why he created the device.
With Friend, you may now interact with an expanding array of wearable and mobile devices that use artificial intelligence (AI) for a variety of purposes. An artificial intelligence (AI) assistant called Rabbit R1 can make taxi calls and respond to queries.
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Voice-activated, the Humane AI pin is a language interpreter, and photo-reactive device that can even activate a laser display on the palm of your hand. Naturally, AI chatbots like ChatGPT also provide text responses similar to those of friends, although they often reply to written queries rather than spoken ones. The question of which gadgets will gain a devoted following and play a significant role is still up in the air.
TechCrunch reports that Schiffmann has raised $2.5 million at a $50 million value from investors, with Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, among them. According to the website, Schiffman’s original concept for a $600 pendant named Tab—which was intended to help with people’s tracking and meeting transcription—evolved into Buddy.
To use the item, you need a phone because Buddy runs on Bluetooth and needs to be connected to the internet. Although Android support is promised in the product FAQ, it is currently limited to iOS phones exclusively.
Some people are probably concerned about the device’s “always on” feature. In an attempt to allay those worries, the FAQ states that “Transcripts and audio are not saved past your friend’s context window. The encryption of your data is end-to-end. Within the buddy app, all memories can be erased with a single click.”
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Preorders for Friend are available for $99, and the website states that the necklace will start to ship in 2025. Only the United States and Canada have access to it, and there is no subscription cost.
