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Instinct has begun rolling out Instinct Selections, a feature that adds human-curated recommendations in areas such as restaurants, travel, and shopping. However, some users received purchase suggestions without making a direct request, raising concerns that the assistant could become an advertising or commercial channel.
The founder of Instinct said that more than 50% of the platform’s transactions involving its AI agent relate to travel, and that annual transaction volume is approaching $1 billion, alongside 10% daily growth, according to his statements. Its plans for restaurant reservations raise questions about fairness and prioritizing some users over others.
AI companies accounted for most of the largest announced U.S. funding rounds between August 22 and 28, 2026, with Instinct topping the list with a $250 million Series B round at a $2.5 billion valuation. The list also included robotics, autonomous transportation, data center energy management, and biotech.