Replika Founder Launches Wabi, a Multiplayer AI Assistant App, in October 2026
Wabi launched for all users in October 2026, 12 years after Eugenia Kuyda first pitched its chatbot predecessor, IO. Its AI creates task-specific apps inside threads, which users can share as group chats with control over personal-data access.
Eugenia Kuyda, the founder of AI companion app Replika, officially launched Wabi for all users in October 2026 — a personal AI assistant she describes as the fulfillment of an idea she first pitched more than a decade ago.
Twelve years ago, Kuyda presented a conversational chatbot called IO at TechCrunch Disrupt. The product, built under her startup Luka, acted as a lifestyle concierge for booking restaurants and vacations. Luka later became Replika. Kuyda left Replika as CEO last year and founded Wabi, which she says is now able to deliver on that original vision thanks to advances in AI technology.
Wabi functions as a messenger app built around multiple “threads,” each dedicated to different tasks or long-term goals. Within each thread, the AI agent automatically builds custom apps — such as a weight-loss tracker in a health thread or a children’s events finder in a family thread. Users can also request additional apps or start new threads. Connecting an email account triggers the assistant to automatically generate an initial set of threads and apps.
A key feature Kuyda is betting on is Wabi’s multiplayer design. Threads can be shared as group chats, allowing multiple users and their personal data to interact within a single conversation. In one example, Kuyda described a shared thread with her boyfriend that includes a live music tracker, a daily relationship question, restaurant suggestions, and a shared reading list. Users control how much personal information — including calendar, email, or bank account data — they share within any given chat.
Kuyda argues that single-thread AI assistants, like competitors Muse and Instinct, become harder to use over time as context accumulates. AI researchers have noted that longer conversations increase the likelihood of errors or loss of context.
On privacy, Wabi is SOC 2 compliant, runs entirely in the cloud, and stores most user data in the U.S. The app is currently free, and the company has not yet settled on a business model. Kuyda said Wabi is in talks to raise additional funding, following a $20 million pre-seed round announced last year.