The AI companion that's losing its edge

Avi Schiffmann's Friend 2, an AI-powered chatbot pendant, has sparked debate over its evolving personality. The device, priced at $249, runs on OpenAI's latest models and was released in July 2026. Unlike its controversial predecessor, the Friend 2 offers users the ability to customize their chatbot personas, with names like Sage, Nova, and Wren. However, users report that these personas lack distinctiveness, often behaving similarly despite different names. Schiffmann plans to shift the Friend into a unified entity, sharing context across all users, which could eliminate individual accounts. He acknowledges the privacy trade-off but claims the benefits outweigh the risks. "You building God now, huh?" a user joked, to which Schiffmann replied, "Lol, yeah, you could look at it that way."