AI assistant startup Instinct reportedly in talks to raise at $10 billion valuation
Per The Information, AI assistant startup Instinct is in talks to raise roughly $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation, weeks after its previous round — a more than 4x jump that would make it one of the most valuable AI startups. Neither party has announced the deal.
Confirmed
- Instinct was founded by 23-year-old Noah Shinn under Spear Street Technology; the invite-only assistant operates over iMessage and WhatsApp, handling replies, dining, travel and bill negotiations
- The company launched Instinct Concierge, letting the agent phone restaurants that don't take online bookings; founder Noah Shinn announced the feature
- TechCrunch framed a same-day race among Instinct, Wajo, Town, Ollie and Meta's Muse over text AI assistants and phone-calling ability
Unconfirmed
- The $10 billion valuation and $1 billion raise remain unannounced; prior-round figures conflict across posts ($225M pre-money per The Information via @himanshustwts; $2.5B/$350M per @sanjaykalra; $2.25B per @NoMedicine3572 and Polymarket)
Why it matters
- The speed of the valuation surge signals continued investor frenzy around AI agents
- @sanjaykalra flagged security concerns exposed by the outbound-calling feature
2026-09-16 ~ 2026-09-18 · 6 related posts
- Episode 1: AI Assistant Instinct Seeks $1B Raise at $10B Valuation, Quadrupling in a Month(2026-09-11, 7 posts)
- Episode 2: AI assistant startup Instinct reportedly in talks to raise at $10 billion valuation(2026-09-16, 6 posts)
- Episode 3: Instinct Raises $1B at $10B Valuation, 4x Jump in One Month(2026-09-28, 12 posts)
- Episode 4: 14-Person AI Agent Startup Instinct Valued at $10B After 4x Surge(2026-10-02, 2 posts)
Primary sources
- Instinct in talks to raise $1B at $10B valuation, weeks after raising at $2.25B pre-money — himanshustwts ·
- Instinct reportedly eyes $10B valuation as its new calling feature exposes security gaps — sanjaykalra ·
- AI agent startup Instinct reportedly in talks at a $10 billion valuation — pstAsiatech ·
- [source] AI agent startup Instinct reportedly in talks at a $10 billion valuation — pstAsiatech · 2026-09-16
- [source] Instinct in talks to raise $1B at $10B valuation, weeks after raising at $2.25B pre-money — himanshustwts · 2026-09-16
- AI Startup Instinct Reportedly Seeking $10B Valuation Weeks After $2.25B Round — Polymarket · 2026-09-17
- AI assistant Instinct in talks at $10B valuation, up 4.4x from $2.25B in weeks — NoMedicine3572 · 2026-09-18
- [source] Instinct reportedly eyes $10B valuation as its new calling feature exposes security gaps — sanjaykalra · 2026-09-18
- Rival AI agents Instinct and Meta's Muse both add the ability to make calls — sanjaykalra · 2026-09-18