Posted by Alumni from TechCrunch
September 17, 2026
Text-based AI assistants are a hot market, with Instinct, Wajo, Town, Ollie, and Meta's Muse agent, which launched last week, vying for users' attention and tasks. San Francisco-based Instinct is one of the most popular of the lot, attracting huge investor interest at what is reportedly a $10 billion valuation. Instinct's popularity may now grow even further, as it's added a new calling feature that lets your agent place calls and act as a concierge. Meta's Muse, another serious contender in this battle, has also done the same. Instinct's founder Noah Shinn announced on X that the buzzy startup's new calling feature, Instinct Concierge, can do things like book restaurants that don't take online reservations, get on your dentist's cancellation list, or sort out problems with your cable bill. The feature is rolling out in early access to some users, with plans to expand to all users in time, he said. Your Instinct can now handle phone calls.Introducing Instinct Concierge ' a white... learn more