Instinct Isn’t Working On WhatsApp For Many Users, Reportedly Over A Billing Issue

Instinct, the personal AI assistant built by San Francisco startup Spear Street Technology, stopped sending WhatsApp messages for multiple users, who reported the outage on X and said the agent attributed it to a billing problem on its WhatsApp account. One user quoted the agent saying "Whatsapp texts from Instinct are blocked by a billing issue on the WhatsApp account, so here is everything by email," while others said Instinct could only react with emojis on WhatsApp and that they had moved to iMessage. The outage hits Instinct's most popular communication channel; the company was valued at $10 billion in late September with just 14 employees.

Even as Meta is preparing for a broader rollout of its own Muse https://officechai.com/ai/metas-ai-agent-muse-announces-tie-ups-with-shopify-paypal-instacart-and-expedia/ agent, a popular AI agent is facing issues on WhatsApp. Several users have taken to X to complain that their Instinct agent is no longer able to send WhatsApp messages. “Hey @instinct https://x.com/instinct?ref src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2116951513801351620%7Ctwgr%5E9d8de08e70e37fa014ec1b30ac31b3a8bf3fdb89%7Ctwcon%5Es1 &ref url=https%3A%2F%2Fofficechai.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D64736action%3Dedit your WhatsApp integration seems to be down. At least for me….,” wrote X user Diego Meller. Another X user called their relationship with Instinct a ‘situationship’ after it stopped responding on WhatsApp. Some people said that all Instinct was able to do was react with emojis to user messages, but not send any of its own. Another user said that Instinct had told them over email that their billing account was facing issues, which was leading to WhatsApp blocking messages. “Whatsapp texts from Instinct are blocked by a billing issue on the WhatsApp account, so here is everything by email,” the agent had said. Another user said that they were communicating with Instinct on iMessage. There too it had told them about their billing issue with WhatsApp. Instinct is a personal artificial intelligence assistant developed by Spear Street Technology, a San Francisco-based startup founded by 23-year-old Noah Shinn. Instead of requiring a separate app, website dashboard, or complex prompt setup, users interact with Instinct entirely through everyday messaging channels—such as iMessage, WhatsApp, SMS, or even phone calls. Instinct was valued https://officechai.com/ai/ai-agent-startup-instinct-is-now-worth-10-billion-with-just-14-employees/ at $10 billion in late September. At that point the company had just 14 employees. Instinct has managed to create a loyal and growing userbase for itself by giving out free trials to selected users in an invite-only beta. These users were able to use Instinct’s services for free, and many are vocal fans of the service. But with its most popular communication channel — WhatsApp — now down, they’re now taking to the internet in large numbers to complain about not being able to access their AI agent of choice.