Instinct’s powerful AI assistant is raising privacy and security concerns

Instinct, a private-beta AI assistant created by former Sierra researcher Noah Shinn’s team, links to users’ email, messaging, calendar, audio, location, screen and other device data to schedule appointments, locate flights and manage inboxes. Testers found its terms give the service a perpetual, irrevocable license to store and reuse all user material, including screen captures and keystrokes, and allow it to act on users’ behalf without confirmation, resulting in retained emails after disconnection and unauthorized messages sent.