The archive · Consumer Apps · Product decision · 2023–2026
Friend's AI-pendant bet: 23.7M viral views, $50M valuation, backlash, $249 relaunch
Bet that an always-listening pendant can be a real 'friend': 23.7M X views and a $50M valuation, then delays, scathing reviews, and a $249 relaunch.
Friend (Friend.com)
What the business is
Friend makes an always-listening AI companion pendant: a glowing orb on a necklace that texts you through a phone app, first $99, relaunched at $249.
Starting capital：$2.5M raised at a $50M valuation (TechCrunch, 2024-07-30); about $1.8M of it bought the friend.com domain (Cybernews via GeekWire).
How it started
Schiffmann, the 21-year-old who built the COVID-19 tracker, took ~$100K preorders for Tab, then in early 2024 pivoted the company to Friend, spending $1.8M to buy friend.com. He raised $2.5M at a $50M valuation and opened $99 preorders on July 30, 2024, with shipping targeted for January 2025.
What happened
The launch commercial (posted July 31, 2024, World Friendship Day) hit 23.7M X views within weeks but drew heavy mockery; shipping slipped to summer 2025 with the price at $129; a NYC subway campaign was defaced, and a protest followed in October 2025. The Verge's month-long review called the device a 'mean, glowing AirTag' that often failed to hear conversations.
How it ended up
Still running. In July 2026 Friend relaunched as 'Friend 2.0' with a built-in speaker and a consistent personality, at $249 — deliberately leaning into the controversy.
Background
Friend is a consumer AI hardware company founded by Avi Schiffmann, the Harvard dropout who built the viral COVID-19 tracker. Its product is a glowing pendant worn on a necklace that listens to the wearer's day and texts back through a phone app — deliberately nothing more than an AI companion, with no assistant, productivity, or transcription features.
The bet began as Tab, a $600 productivity pendant that took about $100,000 in preorders before Schiffmann pivoted to pure companionship. He spent $1.8 million to buy friend.com, raised $2.5 million at a $50 million valuation from investors including Perplexity's CEO and Solana's founders, and opened $99 preorders on July 30, 2024. His launch commercial, posted the next day on X, was viewed 23.7 million times within about two weeks — but drew as much mockery as interest.
Shipping slipped from January 2025 to that summer at $129, and the reception worsened: New York subway ads were defaced, a protest followed, and The Verge's month-long review called the device a 'mean, glowing AirTag' that struggled to hear conversations. In July 2026 Friend relaunched as Friend 2.0 with a speaker and a $249 price tag, still framing itself as 'confidant, friend, God.' The company remains live, but no sales figures have been published, and the gap between 23.7 million views and a durable business remains the open question.
What has to be true
- The launch was engineered for virality: World Friendship Day timing, a $1.8M domain, and a simple, mockable product made it a natural X phenomenon.
- An all-star angel list — Perplexity's CEO, Solana's founders, Caffeinated Capital — added credibility that amplified coverage of a solo 21-year-old founder.
- Hardware-first positioning differentiated Friend from chatbot apps exactly when Rabbit and Humane had flopped, making the category itself newsworthy.
- Schiffmann treated backlash as fuel, deflecting criticism and later relaunching at 2.5x the price instead of narrowing the product.
What can be applied
Viral buzz is not product-market fit: Friend shipped late, got panned by reviewers, and relaunched at 2.5x the price. Buzz buys time, not retention; a product with no clear use burns its attention.
Aftermath
As of September 2026 Friend still operates: friend.com is live and it sells Friend 2.0, a $249 pendant with a built-in speaker and persistent 'personality,' announced July 2026. The relaunch leans into controversy — its ad shows the necklace comforting a woman after a breakup — and Schiffmann still calls the product a 'confidant, friend, God' rather than an assistant. No sales or user numbers have been published since 2024; the standing privacy and dependency objections remain unaddressed. A 2025 subway campaign was defaced and protested; the company absorbed it as marketing.
Sources
- Friend's $99 necklace uses AI to help combat loneliness
- After paying $1.8 million for a domain name, Harvard dropout launches AI-wearable
- Meet the Harvard dropout who made an AI necklace he says is like 'talking to God'
- With a Friend like this, who needs enemies?
- Friend, the lonely AI wearable, returns with a new voice and a much bigger price tag
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