If you’ve been in New York lately, you’ve probably seen it — that eerie subway ad with the little metal pendant promising to “be your friend.”

It’s called the Friend AI pendant, and if you frequent the subways, you couldn’t miss it. The posters are plastered everywhere — on the walls, in the trains, across the MTA — like they’re watching you, not the other way around.

And yup, some people snapped pics of the graffiti versions (“Go touch grass” written over one), while others just sighed and scrolled. Either way, the city collectively decided: the thing is creepy.

So, what is Friend AI, exactly?

It’s a $129 pendant marketed as an “AI companion” that listens to the happenings of your day — your convos, random muttering, existential thoughts — and chats back with “helpful,” “insightful” comments.

Basically, it’s like wearing ChatGPT around your neck — except it’s weirder, less accurate, and, according to early users, not that great at being a friend.

But here’s the gist: while Big Tech keeps telling us AI will “make us more connected” and “redefine companionship,” New Yorkers are responding with something closer to a collective eye-roll.

So yeah... the ads didn’t exactly hit the emotional note the company was hoping for.

To remedy that, Friend’s founder Avi Schiffmann posted a flyer online inviting New Yorkers to talk about the backlash that followed the campaign. 

And guess what? They showed up — in true New York fashion, ready to roast. 

Videos show attendees doodling over a giant Friend banner — graffitiing “F** AI”* and sketching sad little faces on the pendant. A few folks even shot hoops while holding cardboard cutouts of the device. It was part protest, part performance art.

Now, Schiffmann swears he didn’t organize the whole thing, but he did hop on a literal soapbox to chat with the crowd. According to him, it turned into a long conversation circle where everyone vented, argued, and — weirdly enough — shook hands at the end.

By the time it was over, the crowd chanted “Get real friends!” while tearing apart a paper Friend pendant. 

So again, the chat didn’t go that well in the end. But get this — Schiffmann actually signed a paper pledge not to sell the company to Big Tech “for surveillance purposes.”

The Takeaway:

New Yorkers may tolerate rats, rent hikes, and delayed trains — but they draw the line at wearable AIs trying to replace human connection.

And beyond the chaos and drama, this whole saga isn’t just about one company. It’s a snapshot of how people really feel about AI right now.

Because maybe the real story isn’t what AI can say to us… it’s what we’re saying back.

And if New York’s any indicator, the message is loud and clear: people don’t seem to need smarter machines — they prefer better human friends.

Still, for Friend’s founder, that outrage might just be the best marketing yet.  Because in New York, even your haters give you clout.

Want to dig deeper into the story? Click here.

Okay y’all — if you’re an entrepreneur, a business owner, or just love keeping tabs on the next big creative tech move, listen up: Adobe just dropped something big.

It’s called Adobe AI Foundry, and it's a brand-new service that lets enterprises build their own custom generative AI models — trained entirely on their own data, branding, and intellectual property.

Here’s the deal:

Adobe’s been running its Firefly models since 2023, all trained only on licensed data (no shady copyright chaos here).

Now, with Foundry, companies can fine-tune those Firefly models using their proprietary content — so the AI actually “gets” their style.

For example: if you want to pump out hundreds of ads in different languages, seasons, or vibes while keeping everything on-brand? 

Foundry’s got you.

The best part? pricing’s based on usage, not per seat — and Adobe says this move came straight from enterprise demand.

Hannah Elsakr, Adobe’s VP of Generative AI Ventures, said customers were asking for deeper customization and creative partnership.

Or in her words:

“The enterprise asked us to come in and be their creative AI partner.”

And the numbers back it up — since Firefly’s debut, users have already created 25 billion assets (!!!).

But here’s the key thing: Adobe’s not trying to replace creatives.  At least, that’s what they say. According to Elsakr, they’re “doubling down while also arming them.” Or, as she puts it:

“Humanity is at the center of creativity.”

In other words, if AI’s the paintbrush, Adobe just handed every brand its own color palette — giving them the freedom to paint in their own colors.

If you’re in business, this one’s worth a look.

Whether you’re debugging spaghetti code or just trying to remember how to write a clean loop, Codey’s got your back.

This Custom GPT helps you write, debug, visualize, and understand code across multiple languages.

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