The personal AI agent space has grown fiercely competitive in recent weeks, with Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dot, and Instinct leading the chargeβand new contenders launching almost weekly. But Vinod Khosla is betting on former Google and DeepMind engineer Shivani Poddar's Wajo for one simple reason: trust.
The Trust Factor
"I think the most important thing in an agent, because it's acting for you, is trust. You have to have trust in the agent, and I think compared to either Muse or Instinct, Wajo is the most trustworthy because it is architected to focus on trust and safety first, and some of the others are not," Khosla told TechCrunch in a call.
"I mean, who wants to give all their data to Facebook [Meta]? I don't. And if I give my data to Facebook, I'm the product, not the product I am buying, because they are in the ad business. So trust is important, and most people don't trust a large company like Facebook," he added.
What Wajo's Agent Can Do
Broadly speaking, Wajo's Fo agent operates much like Muse or Instinct. It works across iMessage and WhatsApp, and includes a web interface with cards for potential tasks. Errands are organized into categories such as "scheduling," "gifting," and "life admin." The agent can also call businesses or other people on your behalf, booking or canceling services as needed.
In a few early tests, I asked it to call an airline to check for upgrades, and it succeeded. However, when I asked it to call my partner and remind her to feed the cats, the call didn't go smoothly, and disclosures were less clear. As rivals like Instinct and Muse also roll out calling capabilities slowly, we may see more discussion around how an AI calling on someone's behalf should disclose itself. One unique feature of the tool is its ability to hire a human to complete a task when necessary.
In addition, Fo can create a virtual credit card and pay on your behalf without revealing your details. The agent has its own email address and can converse with people and businesses. When websites or services block AI agents, Fo can either notify the user to take action or create a group with the user and the business for verification.
The startup has also secured backing from Jeff Dean and Gokul Rajaram, though it did not specify the amount raised. Wajo declined to share user numbers but said it is being used in 107 countries and has grown 10x since its late-September launch.
Founder Story
Before founding Wajo, Poddar worked in various engineering roles at Meta, Google, and DeepMind, and was involved in building the first Facebook assistant. She said she wanted to build products that were useful to people.
"The whole journey of bringing Gemini to the world and building safety for it made me realize the technological depth that you need to do this. Google is so good in technology that sometimes it can be left behind in product. I thought I needed to do something that is both technology and product at the same time. It has to be something different, which is very grounded in what the user needs," Poddar told TechCrunch in a call.
