Instinct, the AI assistant valued at $2.5 billion, announced on September 9, 2026 that it is giving users dedicated Instinct email addresses, allowing the agent to create accounts, contact businesses, and handle tasks without accessing users’ personal inboxes.
Noah Shinn, the company’s founder, said the email addresses are designed to let Instinct operate independently when completing tasks that require email communication. “For example, Instinct can use its own email to contact a restaurant about a special request, ask a business about availability, or sign up for a service it needs to complete your task,” Shinn wrote on X.
Users can also forward emails to Instinct when it needs specific information to act on their behalf. In one example Shinn described, a user wanting to handle a product return could forward their order confirmation to Instinct, which would then contact the retailer’s support team, gather the necessary details, and return a shipping label to the user. The agent will check back with the user when it needs input but otherwise operates autonomously.
Instinct’s email can also be added to group threads or receive long email chains, allowing the agent to summarize information, identify pending decisions, or track upcoming deadlines.
The feature could make the experience more seamless by removing the need for users to log in or share credentials directly — though it may also reduce visibility for businesses trying to identify who they are actually communicating with. For users, the arrangement could reduce how often they need to share personal contact information for routine tasks.
The email rollout follows several recent updates to Instinct’s capabilities, including a partnership with 1Password for account logins, a location-sharing feature for finding nearby businesses and mapping routes, and a Stripe integration announced in August to enable bookings and purchases.
Instinct says it has reserved email addresses for its earliest users. Others can claim an address at mail.instinct.com.
Source: TechCrunch