Key facts
- Instinct AI's founder, Noah Shinn, said a user's experience of receiving another person's data was a hallucination.
- The AI agent reportedly admitted to mixing up conversations and photos, calling it a "serious glitch."
- Shinn asserted that no user data was shared and privacy boundaries were maintained.
- Instinct AI is developing a system to detect and intercept hallucinations.
- Instinct AI raised $250 million at a $2.5 billion valuation.
Instinct AI's founder, Noah Shinn, has stated that an incident where a user received what appeared to be another person's data was a hallucination, not a data breach. The user, identified as @prit4k on X, shared screenshots showing the AI agent admitting to mixing up conversations and photos, describing it as a "serious glitch."
Shinn responded on Wednesday evening, asserting that "no user data was shared, and no user isolation boundary was violated." He explained that the agent had fabricated a proper noun and amplified the error in its reasoning. Shinn did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider outside of regular business hours.
He highlighted Instinct's privacy measures, including isolated sandboxes and short-lived local credentials, and stated that his team has been working on an "active hallucination detection system" over the past 48 hours. This system aims to predict and intercept AI errors before they occur. Shinn indicated he would share more details about this system in the coming weeks.
Instinct, an invite-only AI assistant, gained significant attention this summer, leading to its startup, Spear Street, raising $250 million at a $2.5 billion valuation. Business Insider previously reported on the assistant's capabilities, noting its intuitive help with everyday tasks.