Text-based AI assistants Instinct and Meta's Muse have both added the ability to make calls, bringing the rivals into parity on a feature some competitors had touted as an advantage over Instinct.
Instinct's founder Noah Shinn announced on X that the startup's new calling feature, Instinct Concierge, can book restaurants that don't take online reservations, get on a dentist's cancellation list, or sort out problems with a cable bill. The feature is rolling out in early access to some users, with plans to expand to all users in time, he said.
Meta's Muse AI assistant also gained the ability to place calls to U.S. businesses. The tech giant said the feature will first roll out to users who ask Muse to make a call, with new features available first to people who ask Muse about them.
Last week, Instinct rolled out email addresses to let Instinct handle account sign-up and management. The company also now allows users' assistants to contact other people's assistants for managing certain tasks, by adding those users to a trusted network.
Instinct raised $350 million at a $2.5 billion valuation last month, and it is reportedly in talks to raise $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation. Analytics firm Sensor Tower noted that Muse outgrew the Meta AI app launch in the first few days, garnering over 730,000 downloads in the U.S. compared to 707,000 for the Meta AI app in the first five days post-launch.