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Almost every AI tool\u2019s demo shows a user sparring with the assistant to book travel, as it seems to be the most frequent use case. The viral Instinct agent is no different, as it sees more than 50% of transactions on the platform for travel, the company\u2019s founder, Noah Shinn, said in a recent podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n In an interview with investor Patrick O\u2019Shaughnessy, Shinn also mentioned that the invite-only platform is approaching a billion dollars in annual transactions. He didn\u2019t specify what the calculation behind this rate is, though.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who are not on Instinct use travel agencies (or sites) to book hotels or flights. What\u2019s the benefit of that interface? They properly unify different hotel chains, airlines, and services, and present them in a nice way for users, who have the option to check out immediately,\u201d Shinn said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there is a better experience with Instinct or other interfaces where users can say \u2018Hey, I need to be in New York tonight; it\u2019s urgent\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n He mentioned that the platform is growing 10% day-by-day, with transaction volume increasing at a similar rate.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s founder has also drawn<\/a> for some of his comments on the show. He said that most restaurants have first-come-first-serve reservation system, which doesn\u2019t account for someone\u2019s special occasion. He said that an agent can check restaurant sites every five seconds and inform the user about available slots. Shinn also hinted that the company wants to reinvent reservations and give users preferential treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you take restaurant reservations from scratch, from the user\u2019s end, they want the reservation for a significant life event that they might have. And on the restaurant end, they just want they want interesting people. They want special occasions. They want to cater to those rather than, maybe, the local [person] who keeps, you know, taking up a table once a night [sic], and there\u2019s no sort of special event there,\u201d Shinn said.<\/p>\n Some observers pointed<\/a> out<\/a> that agents can lie about anniversaries and special occasions just to book a table at a restaurant. They also said<\/a> that some restaurants prefer local patrons as they are regulars and bring more business to the outlet.<\/p>\n Instinct recently raised $1 billion in Series C funding Monday at a $10 billion valuation<\/a> from Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Coatue. The 14-member startup is competing with Meta\u2019s Muse and Khosla-backed Wajo<\/a> in the personal agent space.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n