AI agent Instinct now works inside group chats, even for non-users

Instinct, the AI agent startup now valued at $10 billion following its latest funding round, announced on Monday that it is bringing its assistant into group chats. The feature is designed for everyday coordination tasks such as planning trips, grabbing event tickets, running fantasy sports leagues, arranging carpools, or sorting out who brings what to a holiday gathering.

A key detail is that the group chat feature works even when some participants haven't created an Instinct account. This puts Instinct ahead of rival Meta's newer product, Muse, which doesn't yet support group chats, although Meta's older Meta AI assistant can already be added to group conversations on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook.

Rising competition

Instinct and Muse have been closely matched rivals in recent months, with both adding phone-calling capabilities within the past couple of weeks as they compete for a share of the consumer AI market. Last week, OpenAI entered the fray with ChatGPT Dots, personal AI agents that can also operate inside ChatGPT Spaces, collaborative workspaces where people and agents work side by side.

Privacy safeguards

Instinct founder Noah Shinn explained on X how the company handles privacy in group settings. A user's personal Instinct agent will ask for permission before linking up with a group's shared agent, and users can choose which groups to trust, revoking that trust at any time. Shinn said the group agent is kept separate from users' personal accounts and cannot access them. The personal agent always asks for permission before sharing information or taking action on a user's behalf. If new members join a chat, any pending replies from a personal agent are held back until shared with the full group.

The feature is currently limited to early access users, with the company saying a broader rollout will follow soon.