Instinct, the AI agent now valued at $10 billion, is finally getting the group chat treatment. The startup announced Monday that users can add the agent to chats with friends, even if those friends don’t have an Instinct account. That means one person’s robot helper can join a group conversation, and everyone else in the room can lean on it without signing up themselves.
The feature could be handy for travel planning, snagging event tickets, running fantasy leagues, organizing carpools, or managing who’s bringing what to Thanksgiving. But the bigger picture here is competition: Instinct is moving ahead of Meta’s Muse, which doesn’t yet offer group chat support. Meta’s older app, Meta AI, can be added to group chats on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook, but Muse itself remains stuck on solo mode.
Instinct vs. Muse
Recently, the two agents have been tied in the standings. Each has added the capacity to place phone calls over the last couple of weeks, with both competing for a larger share of the consumer AI market. This development was a simultaneous step rather than an advantage gained by either side.
Last week, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Dots, personal AI agents that can also be used in ChatGPT Spaces, collaborative workspaces where the Dots and humans work together. That move puts OpenAI back in the mix, but Instinct’s group chat rollout is a different kind of play. It’s about being present in conversations where the other people might not want to install anything.
What Shinn Said About Privacy
Instinct founder Noah Shinn explained how the service handles privacy and security in group chats. He said a user’s personal Instinct agent will ask permission before connecting with the group’s Instinct agent. Users can also choose which groups they trust and remove that trust at any time.
Shinn noted that the group cannot access the personal accounts’ Instinct is siloed from the users’, which belong to individual users. He explained that a personal agent will always request the user’s permission before sharing information or taking any action. If new members join the group chat, any pending replies from a user will be held until the user’s personal Instinct agent has connected with the group.
“Making plans with friends usually turns into a frustrating back-and-forth over times and places,” Shinn wrote. “With Instinct in the group, you can explore options together, agree on a plan and get it done, all in one thread.”
Who Gets the Feature First
Instinct’s early access users are the first to receive the group chat feature, which is rolling out to them now. Everyone else will get it “soon.” Users who want to try the new feature, along with other recent additions, can ask their Instinct agent to add them to the list.
The feature arrives for early access users before it reaches anyone else.
What We Make of It
What makes this deployment stand out is its solution to a genuine issue. A system that can arrange choices, manage reactions, and preserve outstanding answers proves handy for managing groups.
It makes sense to include privacy controls in the design. Asking for permission before connecting, letting people choose which groups to trust, and keeping the accounts separate are all reasonable safety measures.
What’s happening here is a gradual rollout. A select group gets early access to the feature before anyone else. The rest of the users have to sit tight and wait for their turn. So the feature isn’t available for all at once, but it’s a reasonable approach for a new feature.
Adoption is another issue. Even if just one person in a group holds an Instinct account, the rest of the group can still gain from it. However, if no one has one, the agent becomes pointless. The firm is banking on enough people finding worth in having a single robot helper in the room so that the others won’t object to tagging along.
Instinct’s new feature represents a leap ahead for the platform, and it raises the stakes for everyone else. Muse now sits behind, facing a distance to make up. The wider market is keeping an eye on which agent takes over as the default helper in a group discussion. Instinct is making its case, and the roll-out into group chats serves as fresh evidence of that push.
Key Facts Box
– Instinct valuation: $10 billion
– Group chat rollout: Early access users first, then “soon” for everyone else
– Early access users can ask their agent to add them to the list
– Meta’s Muse does not yet support group chat
– Meta AI joins group chats on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook
The feature handles a range of tasks, including arranging travel, securing event tickets, coordinating fantasy leagues, setting up carpools, and keeping track of who is contributing what for Thanksgiving. Each of these functions is included among the feature’s capabilities.
Source material: “Instinct brings its AI agent to group chats, even for friends without an account,” TechCrunch.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.