Friend AI Pendant Gets a Voice: Version 2 Can Now Speak Out Loud

Key points

• Friend has launched a second version of its AI companion pendant, priced at $249, up from $129 for the original.
• The new device adds a speaker so the AI can reply out loud, rather than sending text responses to a phone.
• Each pendant ships with a randomly assigned voice and personality that users can't change.
• An optional $10-per-month subscription unlocks conversation memory lasting longer than 30 days.
• Founder Avi Schiffmann plans to sell 50,000 units of version two but says he'll likely withdraw from the EU market because complying with European data-privacy law is too costly.

Friend, the AI companion wearable that generated more headlines about protest graffiti than about its actual features, is back with a notable upgrade. The company announced version two on Thursday: a pendant that can now speak its responses aloud through a small speaker built into the back.

Version one, launched in 2024, was an always-listening AI necklace that pinged replies to your phone as text. The new model keeps that always-listening setup but adds a voice, giving users something closer to a real conversation. Adding the speaker made the underside a little thicker. The AI now runs on OpenAI's latest models, which fits neatly with the hardware ambitions OpenAI's own president outlined last month.

What does it actually do?

Friend is designed as a digital companion: something to talk to, to vent at. Each new pendant ships with a voice and a personality already baked in, chosen at random. You can't rename it or swap the voice out. That Friend is your Friend.

The device costs $249 on Friend.com, a domain founder Avi Schiffmann paid $1.8 million to acquire. The base price covers unlimited conversation, but memories of what you've discussed only persist for 30 days unless you pay an extra $10 a month for longer storage.

Schiffmann, now 24, first became known in 2020 when, at 17, he built a widely used website tracking Covid-19 case counts. Friend is a very different kind of project.

Should buyers in Europe pay attention?

Yes. Schiffmann told Wired AI he'll most likely pull Friend from the EU market because meeting the rules set by GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation, the European Union's strict data-privacy law governing how companies collect and store personal information) makes the product too expensive to sell there. EU residents interested in the device should wait for a firm decision before buying.

Everyone else can order now at Friend.com.

Why do people keep arguing about this?

Friend has become a lightning rod partly because of its ad campaign. Posters across New York, Los Angeles, Chicago in 2025 and Paris in early 2026 drew graffiti protests and public debate about AI replacing human connection. The controversy generated far more attention than the product itself.

Schiffmann seems to find that amusing. Reported by Wired AI, he described Friend as "both real but also, like, ridiculous" and called the project "inherently egomaniacal." He sold the first production run of 5,000 pendants and aims to move 50,000 of version two.

His marketing videos show real users, many of them lonely or struggling, asking their pendant whether they'll ever get married or whether their creative work is any good. Schiffmann says that honesty is deliberate. He wants to show the actual people buying the device, not a polished fantasy.

For anyone thinking about the privacy angle, our earlier report on AI smart glasses recording strangers in public is a useful frame: always-listening wearables raise questions the law hasn't caught up with yet. Friend is worn around your neck, not on your face, but the data questions are similar.

Whether Friend solves loneliness or deepens it is a question users will have to answer for themselves.

Common questions

Can I return Friend if I do not like the voice it comes with?

Friend's website lists its return policy; check that before purchasing, since voice and personality are locked at the factory.

Does Friend record everything I say?

The device listens continuously so it can respond. Without the $10 monthly subscription, conversation memories older than 30 days are deleted. Check Friend's privacy policy for full details on what data the company keeps and where it's stored.