Overview
- Instinct confirmed a $1 billion Series C that values the San Francisco startup at $10 billion and includes investors such as Sequoia Capital, Benchmark and Coatue.
- The company runs an invite-only, free service that lets users text or call an AI agent which uses its own phone number and devices to perform real-world tasks like booking reservations or paying bills.
- Instinct has reported rising user adoption while also experiencing delayed responses because of strained compute infrastructure, and company statements indicate the new funding will be used to increase capacity.
- Users flagged elements of Instinct’s initial privacy policy as overreaching and the company revised the policy after the complaints.
- The $10 billion price reflects strong investor appetite for consumer AI agents but also raises questions about long-term economics and defensibility as platform-backed rivals such as Meta’s Muse roll out deeper app integration.