Instinct is opening group chats to its AI agent, letting early-access users collaborate with friends who do not have Instinct accounts.
Instinct is introducing group chats where its AI agent can help users coordinate with friends, including people who have not signed up for the service. The company announced the feature on October 5, 2026, and said it is initially available to early-access users.
The agent is intended for shared tasks such as planning trips, arranging carpools, organizing events, finding event tickets and managing group plans. Instinct founder Noah Shinn said a separate agent joins for the group. The feature is designed to keep that shared experience apart from each participant’s individual account.
According to Shinn, a personal Instinct agent must get its user’s permission before connecting with the group agent. Users can choose which groups they trust and revoke that trust. The group agent cannot access personal accounts, and the personal agent must ask before sharing information or taking an action. The company also says that if someone new joins a group, pending responses from a personal agent are held before being shared.
Instinct’s announcement arrives amid competition among consumer AI assistants. TechCrunch reported that the agent was valued at $10 billion in its latest funding round. The article also noted that Meta’s Muse does not offer this group-chat feature, while Meta AI can be added to chats across WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Facebook. OpenAI’s ChatGPT Spaces, launched the previous week, were described as collaborative workspaces for people and AI agents.
The group-chat capability is not yet available to everyone. Instinct said it plans to expand access to all users soon, without specifying a date. Early-access users can ask their Instinct agent to add them to the list for the feature.