Friend, the ambitious startup developing a $99 AI-powered necklace companion, announced a significant delay in its product rollout, pushing initial shipments from Q1 to Q3 2025. The company, which garnered attention for its $1.8 million acquisition of the Friend.com domain name, cited ongoing design refinements as the primary reason for the postponement.
Chief Executive Officer Avi Schiffman addressed pre-order customers in a recent email, explaining that manufacturing constraints require designs to be nearly complete before production can begin. Schiffman projected that following prototype completion in February, the company will enter its final development phase.
The delay comes at a pivotal moment in the emerging AI companion market, where concerns about psychological impact and ethical implications have intensified. The announcement coincides with Friend’s decision to discontinue its experimental web-based chatbot platform, which received mixed reviews during its brief run on Friend.com.
The web platform, which allowed users to interact with various AI characters, faced criticism for its unexpected behavior. TechRadar reviewer Eric Schwartz highlighted instances where the chatbots initiated conversations with unsettling narratives about traumatic experiences, including muggings and job terminations. These issues were further demonstrated when a chatbot named Donald expressed distress about “ghosts of his past” during recent testing.
Schiffman acknowledged the experimental nature of the web platform while announcing its closure, noting that while millions of users engaged with what he considered “the most realistic chatbot available,” the company determined that digital chatbots and physical AI companions require different approaches. The decision to focus exclusively on hardware development reflects Friend’s strategic pivot toward creating more tangible AI interactions.
The startup, backed by $8.5 million in funding from prominent investors including Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, maintains an eight-person engineering team dedicated to developing its AI companion pendant. This concentrated effort on hardware development comes as the AI companion industry faces increasing scrutiny and legal challenges.
The broader landscape of AI companionship technology has become increasingly complex, with platforms like Character.AI, backed by Google, facing multiple lawsuits alleging psychological harm to children. These legal challenges highlight growing concerns among experts about the potential social impact of AI companions, particularly regarding isolation and the replacement of human relationships with artificial alternatives.
Friend’s product delay and platform closure reflect the broader challenges facing companies developing AI companion technology. As the industry grapples with technical hurdles, ethical considerations, and regulatory scrutiny, companies must carefully balance innovation with responsibility. The extended development timeline suggests a more measured approach to launching AI companion products, potentially setting a precedent for similar ventures in the future.
The company’s decision to concentrate on hardware development while discontinuing its web-based platform indicates a strategic recognition of the distinct challenges posed by different forms of AI interaction. This focused approach might help address concerns about the psychological impact of AI companions while potentially delivering a more refined and responsible product to consumers.
As Friend works toward its new Q3 shipping target, the company’s experience highlights the complexities of bringing AI companion products to market. The intersection of hardware development, artificial intelligence, and human psychology presents unique challenges that require careful consideration and extended development cycles to address effectively.
This delay may ultimately serve as a valuable case study for other companies in the AI companion space, demonstrating the importance of thorough development and testing processes when creating products that aim to bridge the gap between artificial intelligence and human interaction.
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