Instinct is a startup behind a personal AI assistant that handles tasks such as bookings, shopping and bill payments through an invite-only service. Recent coverage has focused on its funding and growth: a $1B Series C at a $10B valuation, and founder Noah Shinn saying annual transaction volume is approaching $1 billion, with travel making up more than half. Instinct also launched group chats for shared agent use, while its curated Instinct Selections drew user backlash.
Privacy-focused AI assistant Ollie to shut down in a weekOllie, a privacy-focused AI assistant startup, will shut down on November 6. CEO Bill Lennon said it got close but couldn't stand out against Muse, Instinct and others. It had disclosed a $7.5M seed round led by Khosla Ventures in September and held SOC 2 compliance.
DoorDash: AI agent orders just "several hundred" vs 3M daily deliveriesOn its Q3 earnings call, DoorDash said third-party AI agents such as Muse, Instinct and Fo have placed only "several hundred" orders, versus roughly 3 million deliveries a day. CEO Tony Xu called the area still dynamic, said DoorDash wants a healthy relationship with agent developers and floated future advertising inside agents.
Replika founder launches personal AI assistant WabiReplika founder Eugenia Kuyda officially launched Wabi, a free personal AI assistant where users run multiple agentic threads and build custom mini-apps for different tasks and goals. Wabi debuted a year ago with a $20M pre-seed as a social platform for shareable mini-apps and has now evolved toward an agentic assistant.
Cerebras CEO predicts personal AI assistants in every homeCerebras CEO Andrew Feldman said at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 that home AI assistants are not far off, running partly on-device and partly in the cloud, getting to know users and even making purchases for them.
AMD Unveils Full-Stack Agentic AI PlatformAMD introduced a full-stack platform for agentic AI spanning EPYC CPUs, Instinct accelerators, Pensando networking and ROCm software. Agentic AI shifts the CPU-to-GPU ratio from 1:4-1:8 for chatbots toward 1:1 or higher, alongside new embedded and PC partnerships.
Instinct brings AI agent to group chatsInstinct launched group chats that let friends use its AI agent together for tasks like planning trips, carpools and coordinating events, even without an account. The company said personal accounts stay separate, with permission required before personal agents share information or act.
A roundup of AI agents that live in your textsTechCrunch rounds up AI agents usable directly via text messages, handling scheduling, email, reservations and shopping without a new app. Instinct is valued at $10B after a $1B round; Caddy has been in public beta since April 2026, and Fambot targets family tasks.
Week's 10 biggest US funding rounds are almost all AIAI companies dominated this week's ten largest U.S. startup funding rounds, per Crunchbase. Personal AI assistant developer Instinct led with a $1B Series C at a $10B valuation; AI rental platform EliseAI raised $350M at a $4B valuation; AI cybersecurity firm Armadin raised $255.5M in Series B at over $2.5B.
ChatGPT can now virtually try on clothes for youOpenAI globally launched shopping features for ChatGPT: virtual try-on and Favorites. Users can upload photos or screenshots to see how clothing and accessories look on them, and save liked products. These features leverage the newly launched ChatGPT Images 2.5 model for more natural lighting and richer textures.
The ugly economics of consumer AIMeta's Muse, OpenAI's Dots and the $10B-valued Instinct suggest a consumer AI comeback, yet frontier labs keep shifting toward Anthropic-style enterprise contracts. Consumers' willingness to pay is plateauing, and better models may not yield more profitable consumer businesses.
Instinct's curated recommendations prompt user backlashAI startup Instinct launched Instinct Selections, human-curated product and travel recommendations, but unsolicited shopping suggestions drew backlash, with one investor publicly complaining. The company says the feature aims to add "human taste" via local chefs and designers.
Instinct says over half of transactions are travelInstinct founder Noah Shinn said on a podcast that over 50% of transactions on the invite-only platform are travel-related, with annual transaction volume approaching $1 billion and daily growth of about 10%. The AI agent also aims to reinvent restaurant reservations.
Google to replace Gemini Gems with 'skills'Google announced it will shut down Gemini's Gems feature on November 17, 2026, automatically migrating existing Gems into cross-task 'skills' with no user action needed. Launched in 2024 for custom AI assistants, the shift follows the rise of all-in-one AI agents.
Viral AI agent Instinct raises $1B Series C at $10B valuationAI assistant startup Instinct raised a $1B Series C from investors including Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital and Coatue at a $10B valuation. This comes a month after a round valued at $2.5B; its invite-only service handles tasks like booking, shopping and bill pay, while facing competition from Meta's Muse.
Index Ventures' Shardul Shah on What's Next in CybersecurityAs concerns over AI safety and rogue agents make headlines, cybersecurity stocks are rising and investors are pouring capital into AI-native security startups, with companies like Instinct and Simile raising nine-figure checks at valuations that once seemed implausible. Index Ventures' Shardul Shah shares his view on what's next.
Meta's Muse launches on Mac with agentic actionsMeta's AI assistant Muse is now available on Mac, where it can work with files, messages, calendar, notes and mail inside native apps, with opt-in access and approval required for sensitive actions. After launching on mobile and web earlier this month and topping the U.S. App Store, the Mac app deepens competition among consumer AI agents.
Instinct and Meta’s Muse Add Calling FeatureInstinct introduced Instinct Concierge to place calls for tasks like restaurant bookings and cancellations; Meta’s Muse also gained the ability to call U.S. businesses. Both features are rolling out in early access, narrowing differences among text-based AI assistants.
Instinct launches its own email addressesInstinct is issuing @instinct email addresses so its AI agent can create and manage accounts, contact businesses, and forward messages on users' behalf to reduce user intervention; the company is valued at $2.5B and addresses are available at mail.instinct.com.
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