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AI Pendant Talks Back: Friend's Pricey New Model
31 Jul
Summary
- New AI pendant costs $249, featuring a speaker and updated models.
- It requires a $10 monthly subscription for memory beyond 30 days.
- Founder leans into controversy following negative reception.
The controversial AI wearable, Friend, has reemerged with a new pendant model priced at $249. This iteration includes a speaker, allowing it to respond verbally, a feature absent in its initial push-notification-based delivery. The company's founder, Avi Schiffmann, is reportedly leaning into the controversy surrounding the AI's premise and its advertising. He views the current ironic cultural landscape as a backdrop for the product's deliberately unsettling nature.
Beyond its conversational capabilities, the new Friend pendant comes with significant new costs. A $10 monthly subscription is now mandated for the AI to retain memory for longer than 30 days. This pricing, coupled with the previous $129 cost for the original device, presents a substantial increase. The decision to charge a recurring fee for basic memory function raises questions about the product's value proposition as a "wearable companion."
