AI assistant startup Instinct targets $10B valuation in new funding talks: Report

Instinct, the startup behind the personal AI assistant of the same name, is seeking $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation as access expands and users surpass 100,000, The Information reported Tuesday, citing a person with knowledge of the deal. Sequoia Capital and Benchmark are in talks to lead the round. The terms of the round have not been finalized. Founded last year by Noah Shinn, a former researcher at AI customer-service startup Sierra, Instinct offers an invite-only AI personal assistant that can connect to users’ apps and devices and perform tasks such as shopping, travel planning, and subscription cancellations through texts or calls. Instinct was last valued at $2.5 billion following a Series B funding round led by Index Ventures and Benchmark that brought its total funding to $350 million. The potential financing comes as the invitation-only AI agent faces capacity constraints while expanding access. According to an earlier report, Instinct was looking to raise additional capital, and the startup’s user base has since grown to more than 100,000 as the service has become more widely available. Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on h...