Ex-OpenAI researchers launch Boba, a free SMS-based social AI agent

Humansand—a team including former OpenAI researchers Eric Zelikman and Maarten Bosma—officially launched the social agent product Boba on October 23, with endorsements from researchers in the field such as Stanford's Diyi Yang. Boba is positioned as a social agent that "understands your goals and your community." It's completely free, requires no app download or signup, works directly via SMS/iMessage or the web, and maintains context across conversations.

Confirmed

• Capabilities: three main scenarios—group chat planning (add it to a trip group and it can research rentals, flights, trains, split costs, and present quote options), one-on-one reminders (medications, following up on procrastinated tasks), and household list management
• Tech foundation: powered by their in-house Ampersand model, which the team says was trained by interacting with thousands of simulated people across millions of simulated days (another account says it was trained with the Persimmon model in simulated environments), learning to handle goal-setting, disagreement, and plan changes in realistic scenarios
• Design philosophy: the team notes the hardest part of group chat AI isn't answering questions but "reading the room"—knowing when to stay silent and when to step in; Zelikman compared the model's learning to "learning from thousands of years of dreams (the text humans left behind)"

Unconfirmed

• Technical details of the Ampersand model haven't been disclosed; Zelikman says more will be shared in the coming weeks

Why it matters

• Boba represents a high-profile attempt at the "social agent" direction: rather than a standalone app, it enters group chats and daily tasks through the lowest-friction channel—texting—reaching real social scenarios directly
• Its simulation-based training approach (practicing collaboration and restraint in simulated social environments) offers an observable productization path for training AI assistants with a sense of propriety

2026-10-23 ~ 2026-10-23 · 9 related posts

• Boba launches as a social AI assistant living in your group chats, free via SMS — Diyi_Yang · 2026-10-23
• Humansand launches Boba, an AI companion trained over millions of simulated days — niloofar_mire · 2026-10-23
• Human Sand launches Boba social AI with new Ampersand model — gharik · 2026-10-23
• Ampersand launches Boba, an AI agent trained in simulation with its Ampersand and Persimmon models — niloofar_mire · 2026-10-23
• Humans & launches Boba, a personal social-intelligence agent you text like a friend — gharik · 2026-10-23
• [source] Eric Zelikman unveils social AI 'Boba', says it learned interaction 'from millennia of dreams' — gharik · 2026-10-23
• Social AI 'Boba' launches: the hard part is knowing when to stay quiet in group chats — gharik · 2026-10-23
• [source] Boba launches: a free, no-signup AI assistant that lives in your group chat — gharik · 2026-10-23
• [source] Humansand ships Boba, a 'social intelligence' chatbot, two months after launching its first model — CShorten30 · 2026-10-23