Instinct (software)
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Artificial intelligence, software |
| Founded | April 2026 |
| Founder | Noah Shinn (CEO) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, US |
| Products | Instinct |
| Parent | Spear Street Technology, Inc. |
| Website | instinct |
Instinct is a personal artificial intelligence agent developed by Spear Street Technology, Inc., a San Francisco-based startup founded by Noah Shinn. The agent is reached by text message or phone call rather than through a dedicated app.[1] As of September 2026 the product is in an invite-only private access programme.[2]
History
[edit]Spear Street Technology was registered in California in April 2026 by Noah Shinn, a 23-year-old former research scientist at Sierra, the customer-service AI company co-founded by Bret Taylor.[3] Shinn had left Northeastern University in 2023 after machine-learning research at Northeastern and MIT, and is known as the first author of Reflexion, a NeurIPS 2023 paper on agents that learn from their own mistakes by storing summaries of past failures as memory.[4]
The company operated in stealth during its first months, while the agent spread by word of mouth among beta users in Silicon Valley over the summer of 2026.[5] Investor Sheel Mohnot described it as "OpenClaw for normal people".[6] Shinn introduced the product publicly for the first time on 26 August 2026, the same day Instinct disclosed its $250 million Series B co-led by Index Ventures and Benchmark at a $2.5 billion post-money valuation, bringing total funding to $350 million.[2][7]
Reception
[edit]While some testers praised the agent's capability, coverage of the launch also highlighted privacy and security concerns. In August 2026 TechCrunch reported that Instinct's terms of service grant the company a perpetual and irrevocable licence to user data, including screen captures and keystrokes, which may be used for model training.[5]
References
[edit]- ↑ Shroff, Lila (2026-09-13). "It's All Fun and Games Until You Give AI Your Credit Card". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2026-09-15.
- 1 2 "Viral AI startup Instinct has raised $350M at a $2.5B valuation". TechCrunch. 2026-08-26. Retrieved 2026-09-15.
- ↑ "Noah Shinn's Instinct goes from $100M to $2.5B in weeks". Tech Funding News. Retrieved 2026-09-15.
- ↑ "Instinct Raises $250M at $2.5B — Four Months Old, No New Interface". WOWTALE. 2026-08-29. Retrieved 2026-09-15.
- 1 2 "Instinct's powerful AI assistant is raising privacy and security concerns". TechCrunch. 2026-08-24. Retrieved 2026-09-15.
- ↑ Mohnot, Sheel (August 2026). "I've really been enjoying Instinct, a personal AI agent". X. Retrieved 2026-09-15.
- ↑ Tolomia, Cris (2026-08-27). "Instinct AI assistant raises $250 million Series B at $2.5B valuation". Quartz. Retrieved 2026-09-15.