Robot model
Friend
Friend is an always-listening wearable AI companion pendant (a necklace) made by the startup Friend, founded by Avi Schiffmann.
- Manufacturer
- Friend
- Form factor
- wearable
- Maturity
- commercial
- Lifecycle
- active
- Deployments
- 1
- Website
- friend.com ↗
Overview
Friend is an always-listening wearable AI companion pendant (a necklace) made by the startup Friend, founded by Avi Schiffmann. Unlike the productivity recorders in this cohort, it is an emotional-companion device that texts the wearer. It is shipping to the US, Canada, and EU at $129 (it launched as a $99 preorder in 2024). A roughly $1M New York subway advertising campaign in late 2025 became a flashpoint for public backlash against consumer AI. Friend raised about $2.5M at a $50M valuation (led by Caffeinated Capital, with Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas as an individual angel); the friend.com domain was purchased for about $1.8M. The registry records it at commercial maturity, correcting the dispatch's preliminary research/promised label: it is verifiably shipping.
Verified vs. claimed
- Maturity stage
- commercial(Commercially deployed with revenue-generating operations.)
- Verified deployments
- 1 deployment on file
- Sources on file
- 7 sources, view all
Key facts
Price
Form factor
Funding
Status
Pricing model
Specs
Notes
Battery
Pricing
Function
Form Factor
Data & sources
Press releases
1
News coverage
2
Web sources
4
7 sources backing this record.View all →
Pricing
No verified price is on record for Friend. Physical-AI systems are often sold through enterprise contracts or operated as a service rather than at a public list price.
Deployments (1)
- Friend at New Yorkoperational
Friend AI pendant: honest-absence on meaningful deployment.
Friend on the deployment map
Where Friend is verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Friend AI companion pendant
- Record createdJun 3, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Deployment-verified media (1)
Friend's reveal trailer for its AI companion pendant. An always-listening device that texts rather than speaks, and acts as a phone companion.
From deployment: New York
Safety record
No incidents on record for Friend.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Sources (7)
- https://friend.com/?page=hardware
- https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/30/friend-is-an-ai-companion-backed-by-founders-of-solana-perplexity-and-zfellows/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friend_(product)
- https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/friend-is-a-dollar99-ai-necklace-that-wants-to-help-you-remake-the-movie-her
- https://decrypt.co/242629/friend-necklace-avi-schiffmann
- https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/16/tech/friend-ai-device-backlash-ceo-avi-schiffmann
- https://www.wired.com/story/friend-ai-pendant/
Common questions
- What is Friend?
- Friend is an always-listening wearable AI companion pendant (a necklace) made by the startup Friend, founded by Avi Schiffmann. Unlike the productivity recorders in this cohort, it is an emotional-companion device that texts the wearer. It is shipping to the US, Canada, and EU at $129 (it launched as a $99 preorder in 2024). A roughly $1M New York subway advertising campaign in late 2025 became a flashpoint for public backlash against consumer AI. Friend raised about $2.5M at a $50M valuation (led by Caffeinated Capital, with Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas as an individual angel); the friend.com domain was purchased for about $1.8M. The registry records it at commercial maturity, correcting the dispatch's preliminary research/promised label: it is verifiably shipping.
- How much does Friend cost?
- Friend's price is not publicly disclosed. DEPLOY has no verified price on record for Friend from Friend. Physical-AI systems like this are often sold through enterprise contracts or operated as a service rather than at a public list price; check the manufacturer for the latest.
- Is Friend actually deployed in the real world?
- Yes. Friend is independently verified in real-world operation on the DEPLOY registry, confirmed at named deployment sites with primary sources: not a concept, render, or demo-only.
- Who makes Friend?
- Friend is made by Friend, based in unknown, founded in 2024.
- Where is Friend deployed?
- 1 verified deployment of Friend is on the DEPLOY registry, including at New York.
- Can you buy Friend?
- Friend is in commercial deployment and is sold to operators; contact the manufacturer to buy, and see the pricing section for any recorded price.
- What are alternatives to Friend?
- On the DEPLOY registry, comparable wearable robots to Friend include AI Pin, AirGo Vision, Bee, Brilliant Labs Halo (and Frame).
- How does Friend compare to AI Pin?
- Friend and AI Pin (Humane · 1 deployment) are both wearable robots on the DEPLOY registry. Friend has 1 verified deployment on record. Compare both records for specs, safety, deployments, and verified-vs-claimed autonomy.
- Is Friend a top wearable?
- On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, safety, adoption, media, and IP signals, Friend ranks in roughly the top 16% of wearable models tracked by the registry.
- What is Friend's maturity stage?
- Friend is at the commercial stage on the DEPLOY maturity ladder (research, prototype, pilot, commercial, production). Commercial stage means production-grade deployments are operating at named customer sites.
- Is Friend safe?
- Friend has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.
- What is the Friend AI pendant?
- Friend is an AI companion pendant that you can converse with anytime you are wearing it. Touch the button on the front, speak your question, and the pendant responds. Designed to combat loneliness by engaging in meaningful conversations and offering companionship.
Methodology: Verified · 7 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-15
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-15
Maturity + lifecycle
Maturity stage: commercial
Lifecycle: active
Architectural position
Cohort: wearable
Sources by quality tier
- 3
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 2
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
- 1
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 1
- knowledge-base
- Knowledge base
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Friend.Recent coverage
Friend in third-party press
Attention vs reality over time
Media mentions per month (area) against verified deployment events (dots). A press spike over a flat deployment line is the hype gap, drawn over time.
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Friend from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
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I visited 4 famous national parks in one trip. It was stunning and affordable, but I wish I'd done a few things differently.
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Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /models/friend-pendant.md
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/models/97d9fa67-9355-44c9-9b07-5bff221ce3b9
- Revision history: /models/friend-pendant/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Video
Trolling My Friend as the ANOMALIES in Animal Hospital! Today I'm trolling my friend Arkey by pretending to be one of the ANOMALIES in Animal Hospital! Watch until the end to see all of his reactions and SUBSCRIBE! Tha
Trolling My Friend’s Clan with REAL ADMIN in Rivals Today I'm trolling my friend Arkey's Clan with REAL ADMIN in Roblox Rivals.. Watch until the end to see all
A friendship like theirs 💗 Pokémon Horizons: Season 3, now playing on Netflix! SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/2ZflIEC About Netflix Family: Welcome to the officia
It all started in the 2006 when 14-year-old Christina Hamilton walked into a criminal justice class, she had no idea she was about to meet the future biggest po
When you say hello to your girlfriend's friend and suddenly you're in the doghouse. 😂 A relatable stickman animation about the chaos of innocent gestures being
Reality vs attention
Friend draws attention at the 88th percentile but verifies reality at the 50th percentile among wearable robots. Hype Gap +37.9, 3rd widest among wearable robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Strong recent media coverage and press activity. Thin deployment record; scale validation still in progress.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Jul 19, 2026