The AI-powered Friend pendant is now out in the world. If you live in the US or Canada, you can buy one for $129.
The smooth plastic disc is just under 2 inches in diameter; it looks and feels a little like a beefy Apple AirTag. Inside are some LEDs and a Bluetooth radio that connects you (through your iPhone) to a chatbot in the cloud that’s powered by Google’s Gemini 2.5 model. You can tap on the disc to ask your Friend questions as it dangles around your neck, and it responds to your voice prompts by sending you text messages through the companion app. You can reply to these messages with your voice or via text to keep the conversation going.
It also listens to whatever you’re doing as you move through the world, no tap required, and offers a running commentary on the interactions you have throughout your day. To perform that trick, the device has microphones that are always activated.
If the idea of a microphone-packed wearable that’s always listening to your conversations raises privacy concerns for you, just know that you’re not alone. If your experience is anything like ours, wearing the Friend will likely earn you the ire of everyone around you. Curiously, you might even end up being bullied by the chatbot itself.
If I wanted to READ ai “snark”, I would spend more time on facebook, or go back to reddit. How hard could it be to slap a battery and 4G/5G modem on a google home or alexa? Eiter of which would be easier to run on a phone or tablet, which also includes speakers.
How do these morons that can’t match the convenience of existing privacy nightmares, or even DIY stuff, continue to get VC funding?
Get VC funding… like this:
A wise 22 year old with a beard… 😮💨
The VCs are clueless, they jump on a bunch of “feels good” and “disruptive young blood” stuff, hoping that maybe 1 in 10 will not fall and burn.
Oh, I’m fully aware. It just boggles the mind how the same tired outlook has endured for decades now.
Appearances, preconceptions, stereotypes… are shortcuts used to deal with complex issues. Since VCs don’t really care about 90% of the startups, they only need to weed out the worst ideas, in the quickest way possible.
Story time: When I was 20, I had some job interviews lined up, so a family friend helped me pick a decent looking suit and robe that weren’t too expensive. Got offered 3 different jobs in a single week 🤷