AI startup Instinct introduced a new feature that delivers human-curated product recommendations to users. Founder Noah Shinn announced the launch later on Tuesday, saying the Selections effort partners with local professionals — such as chefs, designers, architects, and travel guides — to add "human taste" to suggested lists.
According to the company, the feature creates personalized lists across areas like dining, travel, and shopping, aiming to provide recommendations differentiated in quality from what users might find on the wider internet or from other chatbots. Instinct did not disclose the identities of the human partners involved.
User reactions: recommendations arrived without prompting
Within hours of the rollout, several users reported receiving product suggestions they did not ask for. Shruti Gandhi, general partner at AI-focused Array VC, wrote on X on September 29 that she had not needed the carry-on luggage, sunglasses, or brim hat Instinct suggested and called the experience disappointing. Entrepreneur Andrew Yeung also confirmed on X that he received unsolicited product recommendations.
Chat Joglekar, founder of a business-buying marketplace, wrote on September 30 that Instinct suggested items based on the contents of his email and upcoming trips, producing what he described as an "ewwww" moment — for example, a to-go coffee flask tied to a Blue Bottle subscription and travel accessories he had not requested.
Several users noted that curated suggestions only feel helpful when they match an expressed request or fit naturally into the ongoing conversation; otherwise they can come across as advertising. Ash Thaker asked on X that Instinct ask users whether they want recommendations and allow users to curate their own sources in addition to those Instinct provides.
Monetization risks and product design
Instinct has not said whether it currently earns revenue from these recommendations or plans to monetize them via advertising, commerce, or affiliate arrangements, but the feature appears to open those possibilities. The timing of the rollout follows Instinct’s recent financing: a $1 billion Series C that values the company at $10 billion.
Critics warn that if recommendations arrive at random times, as some users reported, they must be extremely well-targeted and high-quality to avoid users feeling spammed. That risk matters as Instinct competes with larger companies’ assistants — including Meta and, increasingly, OpenAI — which do not use the same approach.
Transactions and scale
Instinct has not disclosed how many people actively use its product, a figure that would help justify its valuation. In a podcast interview with investor Patrick O’Shaughnessy, Noah Shinn said the agent regularly handles transactions for users and that the platform is approaching a billion dollars in annual transactions, with more than 50% related to travel. TechCrunch has asked Instinct for further comment.
Note: user reactions and the financing figures above are drawn from public posts and company statements around the feature launch; Instinct has not publicly named the human curators or provided detailed information on monetization.
