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The West 4th Street station was almost totally taken over by the company’s ads, which spanned 11,000 subway cars, 1,000 platform posters, and 130 urban panels across the city — making it the largest subway ad campaign ever according to Friend CEO ((((((((((Avi Schiffmann))))))))))

When asked about the negative reaction to the ads, Schiffmann told The Post it was “all according to plan.” He also noted that Friend uses Google’s Gemini models, “which have safe guardrails that protect users against self harm.”

The Friend device looks a little like an AirTag necklace. It is supposed to be on-hand to answer questions at any time. It also listens to what goes on around it and sends push notifications to your phone, providing opinions about conversations you just had, all powered by Claude.

“Friend [noun] someone who listens, responds, and supports you,” a poster for the device reads. But New Yorkers have other opinions.

“BE A LUDDITE,” one graffiti says. Other posters have been defaced with, “AI will promote suicide when prompted,” and, “Go make real friends, this is surveillance.”