The buzzy AI startup Instinct has just revealed a new potential revenue stream: product recommendations. Unfortunately for the company, the rollout is already rubbing some users the wrong way - proving once again that there's a fine line between "helpful assistant" and "that friend who keeps sending you affiliate links."
Overnight, the AI agent began pushing product suggestions to users as part of a new feature called Instinct Selections, an effort to curate personalized lists for users in areas like dining, travel, and shopping. Because nothing says "I'm here to help" like waking up to a push notification suggesting you buy a brim hat.
Founder Noah Shinn announced the feature's debut later Tuesday, explaining that the idea is to partner with "local chefs, designers, architects, travel guides," and others to bring "human taste" to its product. In other words, instead of only relying on what the AI could suggest based on its training data gathered from the wider web, the company is partnering with people to offer human-curated suggestions, too. (Instinct didn't share who, exactly, those human partners are - presumably they're too busy curating to be named.)
"The next time you're looking for a restaurant, Instinct can pull from a list handpicked by chefs who know the hidden gems in your area," Shinn wrote on X. "If you want to find a new trail to explore, Instinct can draw on recommendations from local guides and suggest a few routes that fit your preferences. And if you're looking to add some color to your home, Instinct will find pieces from independent designers that match your style, space, and budget," he continued. "Our goal is to deliver world-class recommendations that are differentiated in quality from what you might find on the internet, and from what other chatbots produce," he said. Because nothing differentiates quality like an unsolicited suggestion to buy carry-on luggage.
But the initial reaction to these seemingly unsolicited product pushes has not been fully positive - unless you count the kind of positivity that comes with an eye roll so hard it's audible.
"I didn't need to buy carry-on luggage, sunglasses, or a brim hat. This feels so disappointing. At least make me a personalized shopping list of things I actually need!!," Shruti Gandhi, a general partner at the AI-focused investing firm Array VC, wrote on X. A sentiment that echoes every time your mom forwards you a QVC deal.
Another entrepreneur, Andrew Yeung, confirmed on X that he also received product recommendations that he hadn't asked for, which can feel off-putting. A third user, Chat Joglekar, the founder of a business-buying marketplace, wrote, "I had my first 'ewwww' moment with an AI assistant when Instinct started to suggest products that I should buy based on what I had in email and upcoming trips." So, the AI is reading your emails and your travel plans to sell you stuff. What could possibly go wrong?
The trick to making curated suggestions useful is to make sure they're something the user is actually asking for, or at least fit in naturally within the current conversation. That way, it feels like the assistant is trying to be helpful, not advertising to you. If the product suggestions are going to arrive at random intervals, as Instinct's have been, then they need to be highly personalized, excellent picks - otherwise the user will feel like they've been spammed. And nobody likes spam, unless it's the canned meat, which is at least honest about what it is.
That's not likely to endear users to the AI agent at a time when it's competing with agents from bigger companies, like Meta and, now, OpenAI, which don't do this. Because nothing says "competitive advantage" like annoying your user base.
Instinct didn't share whether it's currently making money from these recommendations or plans to, but the feature seems ripe for some sort of advertising, commerce, or affiliate play. TechCrunch has asked the company for further comment.
The product suggestions launched shortly after Instinct confirmed its most recent financing, a $1 billion Series C round that values the company at $10 billion. The company has not yet said how many people actually use its product, a figure that would help justify that valuation, but in a recent podcast, Shinn noted that the agent regularly handles transactions for its users. In that same podcast interview, with investor Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Shinn said the platform is approaching a billion dollars in annual transactions made through the agent, and that more than 50% of them are related to travel. So, the next time you book a flight, expect Instinct to suggest a neck pillow and a sense of regret.