# Friend: robot model

Canonical ID: `97d9fa67-9355-44c9-9b07-5bff221ce3b9`

- **Slug:** friend-pendant
- **Form factor:** wearable
- **Maturity stage:** commercial
- **Lifecycle:** active
- **Deployments registered:** 0

## Specs

- **notes:** [object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
- **pricing:** $99 preorder (2024) -> $129 current retail; one-time, no subscription at launch
- **function:** always-listening AI companion that texts the wearer (emotional companionship, NOT productivity)
- **formFactor:** wearable AI companion pendant (necklace)

## Deployments

_No deployments registered for this model._

## Supply chain

_No verified supply relationships on file. Supply-chain coverage is being added across the registry; check back as the seed populates this model's suppliers._

_Suppliers appear when verified with at least two strong sources. Sources are append-only; corrections add new sources rather than rewrite history._

## 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.

### Who makes Friend?

Friend is made by Friend, based in San Francisco, California, USA, founded in 2024.

### Where is Friend deployed?

No verified deployments of Friend are currently on the DEPLOY registry. DEPLOY records deployments only when verified at a named site with a primary source; absence may reflect pre-deployment, research, or manufacturer-internal use.

### 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.


## Sources (6)

1. https://friend.com/?page=hardware
2. https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/30/friend-is-an-ai-companion-backed-by-founders-of-solana-perplexity-and-zfellows/
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friend_(product)
4. https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/friend-is-a-dollar99-ai-necklace-that-wants-to-help-you-remake-the-movie-her
5. https://decrypt.co/242629/friend-necklace-avi-schiffmann
6. https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/16/tech/friend-ai-device-backlash-ceo-avi-schiffmann

_API: GET /v1/models/97d9fa67-9355-44c9-9b07-5bff221ce3b9 · canonical URL: /models/friend-pendant_