Friend has re-launched its AI pendant with a built-in speaker, allowing the device to respond aloud rather than only through messages. The change is significant because the company is positioning a more overtly conversational form of AI companionship despite earlier public criticism of the product and concern about dependence on technology.

The pendant now costs $249, up from $129, with the speaker apparently accounting for the $120 increase. Friend previously spent $1.8 million of its $2.5 million funding on the friend.com domain and heavily advertised in New York’s subway system, where a protest targeting the company took place about nine months earlier. Founder Avi Schiffmann has called the update “Friend 2.0”, although the product remains labelled simply Friend on its website.