Friend: New AI companion launches – and is hit by immediate mockery

A new artificial intelligence device, named Friend, has launched and been hit with immediate mockery.

The device has been likened to a Black Mirror episode, mocked for the fact that most of its budget was spent on buying a domain, and led to a competitor posting a rap video about its failings.

But the creator, Avi Schiffmann, says that he believes in the product, despite the mixed reaction.

The Friend is a small disc, worn around the neck, which includes an always-on microphone and a phone connection. Users can press it to speak to the Friend, and then receive replies from it as text messages.

It was released with a high-spec marketing video, which many likened to Black Mirror.

It also quickly became clear that its creator, Avi Schiffmann, had spent $1.8 million on the friend.com domain where the device is sold. Many mocked him for the seeming expense of the idea.

Some praised Mr Schiffmann for the fact his product had become widely discussed, even if it was to mock it. One noted that the fact that “everyone is talking about you spending 1.8 million on the domain instead” meant that “everyone knows what Friend is now”.

Mr Schiffman said however that it was not intentional. “Domain was a no brainer for me, surprised to hear such a negative reaction,” he wrote, saying that he had bought it to ensure the branding was consistent.

Others compared the Friend with another recent AI -powered product, the Rabbit R1, which also puts artificial intelligence tools into a devoted hardware product. Mr Schiffmann appeared to invite the comparison when he posted the two next to each other.

But the Rabbit R1 has run into similar problems of its own. When it was launched with much promise earlier in the year, it led to a frenzy of speculation and hype – but once early users got their hands on it, they found it was limited in use and many advised potential customers not to buy one .

The Friend also appears similar to Humane’s AI pin, which is also worn on the body so that it can listen to the world around it. That too was launched with a flurry of hype, but received poor reviews once it actually arrived.

Mr Schiffmann also received criticism from Nik Schevchenko, who created a rival product also named Friend and with a similar design. He released a video in which he rapped about Mr Schiffmann, accusing him of having spent investor cash without building a product.

Mr Schevchenko’s product is built with a different philosophy to Mr Schiffmann’s friend. The latter allows customers to buy much cheaper “dev kit” which then connects to a mobile app.