Welcome to the forefront of conversational AI as we explore the fascinating world of AI chatbots in our dedicated blog series. Discover the latest advancements, applications, and strategies that propel the evolution of chatbot technology. From enhancing customer interactions to streamlining business processes, these articles delve into the innovative ways artificial intelligence is shaping the landscape of automated conversational agents. Whether you’re a business owner, developer, or simply intrigued by the future of interactive technology, join us on this journey to unravel the transformative power and endless possibilities of AI chatbots.
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Photo Credit: Instinct, a text message-based Ai assistant, has become the VC world’s new hot bot. Courtesy of Instinct
Instinct, a freshman AI assistant that has Silicon Valley buzzing, can book and rebook trips from a text thread. Key lesson for travel: Talking about frictionless booking isn’t the same as delivering it.
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A startup founded by 23-year-old Noah Shinn has become the latest “it” thing in Silicon Valley by building a text message-based AI agent that can execute tasks with surprisingly little friction, including booking and rebooking travel.
A post this week by Altimeter Capital founder Brad Gerstner shared one example: a screenshot showing Instinct booking a hotel room from a simple text message. He and friend Bill Gurley made a bet two years ago, he said on X.com, “as to when a consumer AI would be able to seamlessly book a hotel room. @noahrshinn & Instinct have made this a seamless reality.”
The agent, available on an invite-only basis, works via SMS and WhatsApp. “There are no new interfaces,” Shinn said in an X post. ” You can text or call it.”
According to TechCrunch, the bot has sparked excitement from the VC community. One post, shared by Jesse Middleton, a general partner at venture capital firm Flybridge Capital Partners and an ea
Curated by Adriana Lee
Travel Technology Reporter
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Tags: artificial intelligence, startups, the prompt, travel tech
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A startup led by 23-year-old Noah Shinn has captured Silicon Valley’s attention with Instinct, an invite-only AI agent that operates entirely through SMS, WhatsApp, and voice calls—no new app or interface required. What sets Instinct apart from rivals like Hermes, OpenClaw, Tasklet, and GrokBot is its ability to complete tasks end-to-end with minimal friction: it can book and rebook travel, monitor for fare drops, apply forgotten airline credits, keep families seated together, and add trips to calendars, all from a text thread. Backed by a $250 million Series B at a $2.5 billion valuation (total funding $350 million), the agent has drawn enthusiastic endorsements from prominent VCs. However, it is not flawless—it has quoted incorrect hotel rates, cannot overcome real-world inventory constraints, and its aggressive automation (skipping standard confirmation steps) has raised trust, privacy, and data-permission concerns. For travel brands, Instinct is a wake-up call: generalist agents may own the customer interaction and become the “storefront,” even as travel-specific players still own fulfillment and the harder work of servicing trips when they break down.
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