Friend re-launches its AI pendant with a speaker that talks to you, for twice the price

Summary

Do you remember Friend? The Friend that launched an AI pendant, spent $1.8 mi ll i o n o f i t s$ 2.5 million in funding to acquire friend.com, and plastered the NYC subway with ads promoting artificial companionship? Friend re-launches its AI pendant with a speaker that talks to you, for twice the price Everyone hated it, so Friend is making it even more expensive. Everyone hated it, so Friend is making it even more expensive. A mock-up of the Friend pendant. It’s a small white puck on a necklace. This morning, Friend launched a new ad showing two people talking to their Friend pendants about very personal life problems. It didn’t say it explicitly, but the ad showcased a new feature the pendant now includes: a speaker. Before, Friend would only message back to you, but now, it will talk to you, too. For some reason, the addition of that feature is apparently worth $120, a s t h eor i g ina ll y$ 129 product now costs $249. T h ere - l a u n c h co m es ab o u t nin e m o n t h s a f t er a l a r g e [F r i e n d p ro t es t] (/ ai - a r t i f i c ia l - in t e ll i g e n ce /802697/ f r i e n d - ai - d e v i ce - s u b w a y - a d - p ro t es t - n yc) t oo k pl a ce in N Y C, w h ere p ro t es t ors t r i e d t o b r in g a tt e n t i o n t oo u r g ro w in g d e p e n d an ceo n t ec hn o l o g y . F r i e n d w a s t h eo b v i o u s t a r g e t, co n s i d er in g i t ha d s p e n t ab o a tl o a d o f m o n ey a d v er t i s in g t h ro ug h o u tt h ec i t y . I t s f o u n d er, A v i S c hi ff mann, e v e n [p os t e d anima g e] (h ttp s : // x . co m / A v i S c hi ff mann / s t a t u s /1980046529135312940) p ro m o t in g t h e p ro t es t, an d [s h o w e d u pt o i t him se l f] (h ttp s : // x . co m / A v i S c hi ff mann / s t a t u s /1980046529135312940) . S hi ff mann [p os t e d a tw ee t] (h ttp s : // x . co m / A v i S c hi ff mann / s t a t u s /2082827785987629526 ? s = 20) o f t h e n e w a d, c a ll in g i t “ F r i e n d 2.0, ” e v e n t h o ug h t h e p ro d u c t i ss t i ll j u s t c a ll e d “ F r i e n d ” o ni t ss i t e . P res u mab l y, t hi s i s b ec a u seo f t h e n e w s p e ak er an d t h e n e w$ 10 per month subscription, that lets the pendant remember conversations for longer than 30 days. I’m sure things will go much better this time.

By David Imel

Original Article

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Friend re-launches its AI pendant with a speaker that talks to you, for twice the price

Summary

By David Imel