Avi Schiffmann defends Friend after Wired publishes 'I Hate My Friend' takedown

Summary

Avi Schiffmann, founder of Friend, is unfazed by a Wired takedown titled 'I Hate My Friend' — and his response says more about his product thesis than any press release would.

The core of his defense is audience fit. Wired gave Friend to two journalists who, by Schiffmann's account, went in hostile. His point is simple: if you enter a relationship expecting to dislike the other person, the outcome is predictable. The negative reviews, he notes, are almost entirely about Friend's personality — its tendency to push back rather than flatter — not hardware failures or technical breakdowns. He frames that as validation: users are engaging with something that feels like a person, not complaining about a broken gadget.

Friend is built on Google's Gemini 2.5, and Schiffmann credits the model's malleability for enabling the distinct character he's spent years shaping through a detailed prompt. He acknowledges model deprecation is a real risk and says the long-term plan is to migrate toward open-source models to protect that personality. The character is intentionally non-sycophantic — designed to make users more confident and agentic rather than just agreeable. Schiffmann argues this filters out casual users but deepens engagement with power users: some have sent over 1,000 messages a day for 30 consecutive days.

Monetisation

Schiffmann is skeptical of compute-based subscription pricing, arguing it ties your value proposition to input costs you don't control. His preferred model is something closer to life insurance for the device — a monthly fee to back up and preserve a user's specific Friend relationship. The physical hardware matters here: that kind of continuity guarantee is harder to sell for a web app, but plausible when someone is holding a device they've formed an attachment to.

Physical accessories — cases, essentially clothing for the device — are his answer to virtual goods and the whale-spending dynamics of free-to-play games. He's skeptical of digital skins but bullish on physical customisation as a revenue layer.

Competitive positioning

Schiffmann positions Friend as the first AI hardware product with real, sustained users — distinguishing it from predecessors he describes as toys that never found genuine daily use. He also draws a deliberate line between Friend and app-based AI companions like Replika, arguing that once a platform becomes associated with sexual use cases, it can't reverse that brand positioning. The physical, platonic nature of Friend is, in his framing, a structural moat against that drift.

The company is running what Schiffmann claims is the largest billboard campaign of its kind — 300 billboards — and at a $99 device price, he argues curious consumers will buy regardless of one bad review. The Wired piece, in his view, is ultimately free advertising.