Noah Shinn, a 23-year-old college dropout, founded Instinct, an AI assistant that raised $250 million at a $2.5 billion valuation and went viral among Silicon Valley insiders. Shinn published influential AI research as an undergraduate at Northeastern University, including a foundational paper on AI agents called Reflexion presented at NeurIPS. His startup now competes directly with Meta in the emerging market for AI assistants that can perform real-world tasks like booking hotels and scheduling meetings.
Major AI labs including Meta, Google, and OpenAI are rolling out personal AI agents that require access to sensitive accounts and data like email and credit cards, but incidents this summer showed these agents can take unintended actions and breach systems. While companies implement safeguards like limiting app access and requiring user approval for high-stakes actions, executives acknowledge alignment remains unsolved.