Friend is already making enemies: The strange, AI-powered loneliness cure-all hardware that debuted earlier this week has already been accused of being a total rip-off of another product, and it’s only been on the market for less than three days.
Friend is a $99 necklace that records everything you do and uses AI to generate conversational text about your actions that it sends to your phone. The necklace was developed by Avi Schiffmann, a young developer who has made a name for himself for unconventional projects. Schiffmann announced the launch of Friend on Tuesday with a highly produced ad on X showcasing the virtual companion’s capabilities.
On Thursday, a developer named Nik Shevchenko posted a “diss track” online in which he claimed Shifman plagiarized his product, an AI necklace called “Friend.” The video, posted to X, features Shevchenko addressing Shifman, rapping, “I’m the founder, I’ve got the hardware in my hand/You’re just a shadow, you don’t get it.”
Congratulations Avi Shiffman To set up a friend pic.twitter.com/3Vg2ts0XdS
— Nick Shevchenko (@kodjima33) July 31, 2024
Shevchenko then posted a shirtless photo of himself and challenged Shevchenko to a duel: “I officially invite @AviSchiffmann to fight me. Will you accept the offer?”
There seems to be plenty of evidence that Shevchenko is telling the truth. In a post dated June 24, 2024, Shevchenko’s blog reads, “I am pleased to announce the launch of my new product, FRIEND, a necklace that transcribes your conversations and provides summaries and proactive insights.” There are also several old YouTube reviews of “Friend AI” showcasing the product he is referring to, one of which links to another website where the developer can be seen explaining the device. The device has a similar form factor and features to the one Shifman launched earlier this week.
When asked about Friend by Gizmodo earlier this week, Schiffmann claimed his device was more of a novelty, describing it as “just an LLM Tamagotchi.” A notable feature of Schiffman’s device is that it sends conversation-style messages based on user behavior, making it more suited to virtual dating. Meanwhile, Schevchenko’s device seems more focused on organization and productivity.
Gizmodo has reached out to Schiffman and Shevchenko for comment and will update this article if either responds. When reached for comment by 404 Media, Schiffman said of Shevchenko that “he has nothing to do with Nick,” adding that he “has no further comment to make about Nick.”
