Observer essay puts Instinct in the leading SMS-assistant group, behind Muse

A venture investor's Observer essay argues that one consumer superapp is unlikely to win the US assistant market outright.

What happenedMercedes Bent groups Muse, Dots, Wajo's Fo, Town, Hark and Instinct as SMS-based AI assistants. She expects specialized tools first, consolidation inside categories second, then an orchestration layer. The piece cites Assistant Benchmark's ranking with Muse first and Hark and Instinct next, and points to permissions, payments and exception handling as the hard execution work.

Why it mattersThe article puts Instinct in the leading group while making a case that fits an independent agent: complete real tasks reliably, then interoperate. Its bottleneck list is also a reminder that access, approvals and payment recovery matter more than launch buzz.

Evidence limitsThis is a VC op-ed, not reporting. Assistant Benchmark's methodology was not examined. Muse download and activity figures in the essay belong to Muse only and are not Instinct usage figures.