AI assistant Instinct in talks to raise $1B at $10B valuation, up 4x in a month
Borthwick · x · 2026-09-19
The New York Post reports that Instinct, an AI assistant founded by 23-year-old Noah Shinn, is in talks to raise $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation — more than 4x the $2.5 billion investors estimated just a month ago, for a company launched only in February. Instinct lives inside iMessage/WhatsApp rather than its own app: users text it to book flights, draft emails and grab restaurant reservations. Betaworks' John Borthwick (no stake) says rivals like OpenClaw feel clunky, and Instinct is the first assistant he'd recommend to non-technical family. The invite-only product suggests the 'have your bot contact my bot' era is closer than expected.
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