Overview

• Outfront confirmed more than 11,000 Friend ads across stations and trains, with the MTA replacing defaced posters as standard practice.
• Founder Avi Schiffman told the New York Times that only 3,100 units have sold to date, despite shipments starting in July at roughly 400 per week.
• A website built to let people alter the posters has logged close to 6,000 user submissions, reflecting sustained public pushback.
• Schiffman says the design intentionally invites commentary, declined street‑level engagement with some riders, and was quoted as being tired of talking to New Yorkers.
• The device continuously listens through a microphone, runs on Google’s Gemini, costs $129 with no subscription, draws privacy and loneliness critiques, and the CEO argues it supplements rather than replaces human relationships.