Instinct and Meta Muse Bring Phone Calls to AI Assistants as Competition Heats Up
Text-based AI assistants are quickly becoming one of the most competitive areas in consumer technology. Apps and agents such as Instinct, Wajo, Town, Ollie, and Meta’s Muse are racing to become the go-to digital helper for everyday tasks, from scheduling and research to account management and personal errands.
Now, one of the biggest new battlegrounds is phone calling.
San Francisco-based Instinct, already one of the most talked-about AI assistant startups, has introduced a new feature called Instinct Concierge. The feature allows a user’s AI agent to place phone calls on their behalf and handle more complex, high-touch tasks that usually require human interaction.
According to Instinct founder Noah Shinn, Instinct Concierge is designed for situations where online forms, apps, and automated systems fall short. That could include booking a restaurant that does not accept online reservations, asking a dentist’s office to add you to a cancellation list, arranging premium services, or calling a cable provider to resolve a billing issue.
The feature is currently rolling out in early access to select users, with broader availability expected over time.
The move could make Instinct even more appealing to users who want an AI assistant that does more than answer questions or draft messages. By adding outbound calling, Instinct is moving closer to becoming a true personal concierge that can act across the real world, not just inside apps.
Meta’s Muse assistant is also moving fast in the same direction. Muse has begun rolling out the ability to place calls to businesses in the United States. Meta is giving early access to users who previously asked Muse for calling capabilities, using those requests as a way to prioritize feature availability.
Phone calling has become one of the most requested features among AI assistant users. While text-based assistants are useful for organizing information, writing, and planning, many real-world tasks still require a phone conversation. Businesses without online booking systems, customer service departments, medical offices, and local service providers often still rely heavily on calls.
That is why outbound calling could become a major differentiator in the AI assistant market.
Until now, some competing assistants had been using calling features as a key advantage over Instinct. With the arrival of Instinct Concierge, that gap is narrowing. Instinct and Muse are now competing more directly in the race to build AI agents that can complete practical tasks from start to finish.
Instinct has also been expanding beyond phone calls. The company recently introduced email addresses for its AI assistants, allowing them to help with account sign-ups and account management. It has also added a trusted network feature, which lets users allow their assistants to contact other people’s assistants to coordinate certain tasks.
These updates suggest a broader shift in how AI assistants are evolving. Instead of functioning only as chatbots, the next generation of AI agents is being designed to communicate, negotiate, schedule, and manage workflows across multiple services.
Investor interest in this space is also growing rapidly. Instinct reportedly raised $350 million at a $2.5 billion valuation last month and is said to be in talks for another major funding round that could value the company at around $10 billion. That level of interest reflects the belief that AI assistants capable of navigating everyday digital and real-world tasks could become a major consumer platform.
Meta’s Muse is also seeing strong early momentum. Market data indicates the app attracted more than 730,000 downloads in the United States during its first few days, outpacing the early launch performance of Meta’s previous AI app. Muse also climbed near the top of app store charts, showing strong demand for standalone AI assistant experiences.
The growing popularity of Instinct and Muse highlights a clear trend: users do not just want AI that can talk. They want AI that can take action.
For consumers, features like AI phone calls could save time, reduce frustration, and make it easier to deal with businesses that still require manual contact. For the companies building these assistants, the challenge will be reliability, trust, privacy, and ensuring the AI can handle conversations accurately without creating confusion or mistakes.
Still, the direction is clear. AI assistants are becoming more capable, more proactive, and more integrated into daily life. With Instinct Concierge and Muse outbound calling now entering the market, the race to build the most useful personal AI assistant is only getting more intense.
