AI agent firm Instinct raises $1 billion in latest funding round

Personal AI assistant startup Instinct has secured a $1 billion investment at a $10 billion valuation, according to a recent announcement. Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Coatue participated in the Series C funding round. This follows a $250 million investment from Index Ventures and Benchmark just a month prior, which had already valued the company at $2.5 billion.

Instinct, operating under the name Spear Street Technology Inc., is creating an AI agent capable of handling everyday tasks such as planning road trips, ordering groceries, and cancelling subscriptions. The company's product utilizes its own phone and computer capabilities to complete tasks based on user input, be it in the form of text or voice commands.

Instinct's recent addition includes a phone concierge service that can handle high-touch cases involving phone calls, high-end bookings, and other detailed tasks like restaurant reservations and bill disputes. The assistant can also coordinate plans with other Instinct users and their trusted friends or coworkers via a trust network, enabling direct file sharing and coordinated scheduling.

Instinct's design focuses on a human-like interaction, with its own virtual phone and computer, allowing it to load web pages and apps and interact with them directly. The startup operates in a market dominated by a dozen prominent AI-agent products, with Instinct's main competitors being Wajo, Ollie, Poke, and a few others. Other notable players in the field include OpenAI Group PBC's ChatGPT, SpaceXAI LLC's Grok, Apple's Siri, Meta Platforms Inc.'s Muse, and Apple's Apple Intelligence, which has recently been integrated into Siri.