AI agents already live in your messages: from $10 billion Instinct to family assistants

Artificial intelligence agents are moving to where you spend most of your time: in text messages. As TechCrunch writes in a roundup published this week, instead of downloading yet another app, you write to these agents as you would to an ordinary person — they remember the context of the conversation, connect with the apps and services you use, and carry out concrete tasks: from calendar planning and travel searches, to emails, bookings, purchases and reminders.

Among the most prominent names listed by TechCrunch is Instinct, which after a $1 billion funding round in September 2026 reached a staggering valuation of $10 billion. Its agent is still in private beta and offers dedicated email addresses for assistants. Another big name is Town, which secured $55 million in a Series A led by a16z and Forerunner in June 2026, as well as Poke — approved by Apple as the first artificial intelligence agent in Apple Messages for Business in June, while its parent company was acquired by Cognition.

A whole category is dedicated to families. As TechCrunch reports, Fambot positions itself as an artificial intelligence “chief of staff” for families via SMS — it entered beta in September 2026 after raising $3.5 million in pre-seed funding. Alongside it come Ohai, with a free basic tier, and Ollie, one of the first family assistants with SOC 2 compliance. Meanwhile Wajo goes even further: it has its own email, phone number and payment card, with a human assistant as a backup.

The list continues with Caddy, an assistant for iMessage and RCS in public beta since April 2026; Folk, which works on iMessage, WhatsApp and Telegram through its own private cloud; Iris, powered by the Hermes agent via iMessage; Martin, which covers SMS, WhatsApp, email and Slack starting at $21 a month; Miso, focused on travel via iMessage; as well as Rene, Skye, Stanley, Tomo — which can also join group chats — Orbits, backed by a16z Speedrun, and Pally, with WhatsApp, Gmail and Drive integration.

The clear message of this wave, according to TechCrunch, is that the inbox is becoming the main interface of artificial intelligence: no longer new apps to learn, but ordinary conversations that do real work.