Avi Schiffmann

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Avi Schiffman
Born (2002-10-26) October 26, 2002 (age 23)
Occupation(s)Technologist; entrepreneur
Years active2019–present
Known fornCoV2019.live; Ukraine Take Shelter; Friend (AI wearable)

Avi Schiffmann is an American technologist and entrepreneur known for public-interest web projects, including the COVID-19 dashboard nCoV2019.live and the refugee-housing platform Ukraine Take Shelter, and for founding the AI wearables startup Friend. [1] [2] [3] He received the Webby Awards' Person of the Year honor in 2020 for his work tracking the COVID-19 pandemic. [4]

Contents

Career

As a high-school student in Washington, Schiffmann launched nCoV2019.live in late 2019 to aggregate COVID-19 case data via automated scraping. The site drew a large global audience early in the pandemic. [1] [5] In 2020 he appeared as a WIRED25 speaker. [6] Schiffmann received the Webby Awards' Person of the Year honor in 2020 for nCoV2019.live; the award was presented by Anthony Fauci. [4] [3]

In March 2022, while a student at Harvard University, he co-created Ukraine Take Shelter, a matching platform for people fleeing Russia's invasion to connect with potential hosts, with Marco Burstein. The project spread internationally and drew sustained coverage as well as debate over verification and safeguards for vulnerable users. [2] [7] [8]

Schiffmann later founded Friend, a consumer AI startup offering neck pendants that record audio for processing and replies via text to the user's phone. The product and company have been profiled by tech and business outlets including Wired and Fortune. [3] [9] Reporting also noted the purchase of the friend.com domain as part of the brand strategy. [10] [11] Schiffmann spent $1.8 million on the domain, nearly three-quarters of his $2.5 million raised in fundraising. [12]

In late 2025, Friend mounted a large New York City Subway ad campaign that prompted backlash and vandalism. Coverage described the scope and cost of the campaign and profiled Schiffmann discussing the strategy and reaction. [13] [14] [15] The Atlantic called Schiffmann the "most reviled tech CEO" in New York. [13]

Projects

Controversies and criticism

Ukraine Take Shelter drew criticism from experts about verification and safety practices typical of ad-hoc humanitarian matching sites. [8] [17]

Friend's 2025 New York subway campaign drew widespread backlash. Coverage detailed extensive graffiti on the posters, debates about AI companionship and privacy, and the scale of the media buy. [13] [14] [15]

Personal life

Schiffmann attended Mercer Island High School in Mercer Island, Washington. [1] He was a student at Harvard University for one semester, but dropped out to work on Ukraine Take Shelter after the Russian-Ukraine war began. [3] Schiffmann is Jewish. [18] He lives in San Francisco, California. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Crane, Brent (March 23, 2020). "The High Schooler Who Became a COVID-19 Watchdog". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Elassar, Alaa (March 20, 2022). "These teens created a website matching Ukrainian refugees with hosts offering shelter". CNN. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Roytburg, Eva. "Meet the Harvard dropout who made an AI necklace he says is like 'talking to God'". Fortune. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Webby Person of the Year: Avi Schiffmann". The Webby Awards. May 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  5. ↑ Schlosser, Kurt (April 8, 2020). "Viral sensation: Seattle kid who built coronavirus website catches eye of a top Twitter tastemaker". GeekWire. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  6. ↑ Rogers, Adam. "The Coronavirus Dashboard Creator Has a New Target: Elections". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  7. ↑ Arribas, Daniel (March 16, 2022). "The teenage students who created an 'AirBnb' for people offering to host Ukrainian refugees". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Ferreira, Ashley R.; Abdel Haq, Omar (April 7, 2022). "Two Harvard Students Went Viral for Creating a Website to Help Ukrainian Refugees. But Some Experts Have Concerns. | News | The Harvard Crimson". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Ashworth, Boone. "Wear This AI Friend Around Your Neck". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  10. ↑ Pierce, David (July 30, 2024). "Your new AI Friend is almost ready to meet you". The Verge. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  11. ↑ Marcus, Josh (July 30, 2024). "Startup that went viral for off personal AI 'friend' necklace spent $1.8m on a URL". The Independent. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  12. ↑ Maiberg, Emanuel; Koebler, Jason (July 30, 2024). "AI 'Friend' Company Spent $1.8 Million and Most of Its Funds on Domain Name". 404 Media. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 Wong, Matteo (October 6, 2025). "The Most Reviled Tech CEO in New York Confronts His Haters". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  14. 1 2 Tremayne-Pengelly, Alexandra (October 8, 2025). "The 22-Year-Old Founder of Viral A.I. Startup Friend Embraces the Backlash". Observer. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  15. 1 2 Ha, Anthony (September 27, 2025). "AI startup Friend spent more than $1M on all those subway ads". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  16. ↑ Serrano, Jody (March 26, 2022). "A Website Resettling Ukrainian Refugees Got Adoring Headlines. Experts Say It Was Too Good to Be True". Gizmodo. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  17. ↑ "A Website Resettling Ukrainian Refugees Got Adoring Headlines. Experts Say It Was Too Good to Be True". Gizmodo. March 26, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  18. ↑ "Schiffmann, Avi Oral History Interview | Washington State Jewish Historical Society". www.wsjhs.org. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
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