# Friend re-launches its AI pendant with a speaker that talks to you, for twice the price > Source: > Published: 2026-07-30 16:33:32+00:00 Do you remember Friend? The Friend that launched an AI pendant, spent $1.8 million of its $2.5 million to acquire friend.com, and plastered the NYC subway with ads promoting artificial companionship? # Friend re-launches its AI pendant with a speaker that talks to you, for twice the price Everyone hated it, so Friend is making it even more expensive. Everyone hated it, so Friend is making it even more expensive. Yeah well, if you didn’t remember, [Friend is back](https://x.com/AviSchiffmann/status/2082827785987629526). And now, it’s twice the price. This morning, Friend [launched a new ad](https://x.com/friend/status/2082827641338658873?s=20) showing two people talking to their Friend pendants about very personal life problems. It didn’t say it explicitly, but the ad showcased a new feature the pendant now includes: a speaker. Before, Friend would only message back to you, but now, it will talk to you, too. For some reason, the addition of that feature is apparently worth $120, as the originally $129 product now costs $249. The re-launch comes about nine months after a large [Friend protest](/ai-artificial-intelligence/802697/friend-ai-device-subway-ad-protest-nyc) took place in NYC, where protestors tried to bring attention to our growing dependance on technology. Friend was the obvious target, considering it had spend a boatload of money advertising throughout the city. Its founder, Avi Schiffmann, even [posted an image](https://x.com/AviSchiffmann/status/1980046529135312940) promoting the protest, and [showed up to it himself](https://x.com/AviSchiffmann/status/1980046529135312940). Shiffmann posted a tweet of the new ad, calling it “Friend 2.0,” even though the product is still just called “Friend” on its site. I’m sure things will go much better this time. **Follow topics and authors** from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.