Instinct: the invite-only personal agent you text or call, and what its terms allow

Instinct is a hosted personal AI assistant from Spear Street Technology, Inc., which trades as Instinct. You reach it by text or phone call, and it acts for you across the accounts you connect. Its homepage lists email, messaging, screen, audio and location, and says only to text Instinct to start. Access is a private, invite-only beta, per TechCrunch and PYMNTS.

#What can Instinct do?

It texts and calls you unprompted, on errands its homepage names: arranging a ride to the airport, booking a handyman. TechCrunch reported on September 9, 2026 that Instinct reserved mail.instinct.com addresses for its earliest users, and that everyone else can claim one there. The agent uses the address to create accounts, contact businesses and follow up on things that need attention. On September 17 it reported two more: assistants can contact other people's assistants through a trusted network, and Instinct Concierge, a white glove service for calls and high-end bookings, is in early access.

#What do Instinct's terms let it do?

The terms, last revised on August 26, 2026, say you appoint the Services as your agent to enter into agreements, commitments or transactions on your behalf, binding you as if you had signed them. By default the company may use your materials to train AI models; Vault materials are excluded, and the terms give an opt-out at app.instinct.com/settings. The privacy policy, dated the same day, excludes Google Workspace API data from training. The terms also let the company revise pricing at any time, set California law, require you to be 18 or older, and say people outside the United States use the service at their own initiative. TechCrunch wrote that the beta has drawn controversy over "privacy concerns".

#What is known about its funding?

The figures conflict. TechCrunch reported on August 26, 2026 that Instinct had raised $350 million in total, including a $250 million Series B co-led by Index Ventures and Benchmark at a $2.5 billion valuation. PYMNTS put that round at $2.25 billion and reported, citing The Information, talks to raise $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation. PYMNTS also put the user base past 100,000 and said chief executive Noah Shinn does not want to charge users, pointing to advertising.

#How does Instinct compare with Muse and OpenClaw?

Instinct is hosted and gated: the company runs it and you need an invitation. Muse is Meta's rival consumer agent, distinct from Muse Spark, Meta's model family; TechCrunch covered Muse adding calls the same day Instinct did. Readers also weigh it against OpenClaw. instinct.com publishes no developer documentation and describes no skills, plugins, MCP servers or API, so Instinct's reach is whatever accounts you connect.