Whatcha gon’ do? Friend AI CEO embraces vandalized subway ads as marketing strategy

Friend AI startup CEO Avi Schiffmann is embracing the backlash from his company’s controversial New York City subway advertising campaign, even posing for photos in front of the heavily vandalized billboards. The 22-year-old executive claims the negative reaction was intentional, designed to spark conversation about Friend’s AI pendant that constantly listens to users and sends AI-generated text responses.

What you should know: Friend’s subway ads became targets for public frustration, with vandals covering the white billboards with handwritten criticism.

• “Befriend something alive,” one person wrote, while another scrawled “AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died.”
• A third vandal warned: “AI will promote suicide when prompted, it is NOT YOUR ‘FRIEND.'”
• Schiffmann denied the company was involved in the graffiti, despite mysteriously similar phrases appearing across multiple ads.

The big picture: The backlash reflects broader public skepticism about AI replacing human connection and privacy concerns around always-listening devices.

• Friend’s pendant continuously monitors conversations through its microphone and responds with what reviewers describe as often antagonistic AI-generated messages.
• The device raises significant privacy implications since it records not just the wearer but everyone around them.

What they’re saying: Schiffmann maintains the controversy is part of his strategy and compares the AI relationship to divine communication.

• “The picture of the billboard is the billboard,” he told The Atlantic about the vandalized ads.
• “Nothing is sacred anymore, and everything is ironic,” he added in what the publication noted was a repeated talking point.
• Regarding the AI relationship: “The closest relationship this is equivalent to is talking to a god,” he boasted.

Business reality: Despite the attention, Friend faces significant operational challenges that question its viability.

• “Profitability is ideal, but right now it costs me an unfathomable amount of money if you actually use the product,” Schiffmann told Fortune.
• The CEO acknowledges potential legal troubles ahead: “I think one day we’ll probably be sued, and we’ll figure it out. It’ll be really cool to see.”
• His strategy appears to rely on the controversial “any press is good press” theory, though the overwhelming negative response tests that assumption.