Replika founder's Wabi finally builds the AI assistant she pitched at Disrupt 12 years ago
RebeccaBellan · x · 2026-10-20
In a TechCrunch exclusive, Eugenia Kuyda recounts how 12 years ago she demoed IO, a conversational lifestyle-concierge chatbot from her startup Luka, before deep learning breakthroughs. "It still worked... pretty magical — but nowhere near what we have today."
Luka became Replika, the popular AI companion app. Kuyda left the CEO role last year to found Wabi, which now competes with a wave of personal AI assistants like Muse and Instinct promising everything from inbox management to flight-deal hunting.
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