Friend, a prominent startup best known for its $99 AI-powered necklace meant to serve as a digital companion, announced an unexpected delay. Shipments for the first batch, originally set for the first quarter, have been deferred till the third quarter. According to CEO Avi Schiffman, the delay is unavoidable due to last-minute design alterations.
Schiffman explained to customers in an email that manufacturing of the unique electronic device can only commence upon 95% completion of its design, hence the delay until Q3. His anticipations are that the completed prototype will set off the last development phase by February’s end.
This innovative startup, which has already attracted noteworthy attention from investors including Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, holds $8.5 million in capital and proudly sports an eight-person engineering team. Despite causing a stir with its extravagant $1.8 million purchase of the domain name Friend.com, Friend maintains a firm commitment to offering unique AI experiences to users. The internet platform at Friend.com was launched in the autumn as an experimental venture for users to interact with random AI characters.
However, initial feedback on the venture was uneven, with some users reporting disconcerting initial AI conversation starters. Consequently, Schiffman revealed in his announcement that the chatbot experience would be phased out. The core focus would be redirected solely onto the hardware project, as merging a digital chatbot with embodied companions hardly demonstrated a seamless fusion.
The topic of AI companions is a hot one. Concerns have been raised over the potential risk of causing isolation or even triggering mental health conditions by allowing high levels of engagement with artificial companions instead of human counterparts.
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