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Khosla Backs Wajo, Citing Trust Over Competitors
Developing
In Short: Vinod Khosla, a prominent venture capitalist, is backing Wajo, a personal-agent service founded by former Google and DeepMind engineer Shivani Poddar, citing trust as the key differentiator from competitors like Meta’s Muse and Instinct.
Vinod Khosla, a prominent venture capitalist, is backing Wajo, a personal-agent service founded by former Google and DeepMind engineer Shivani Poddar, citing trust as the key differentiator from competitors like Meta’s Muse and Instinct.
According to Khosla, Wajo stands out because it prioritizes trust and safety in its design, distinguishing it from other agents that may not emphasize these aspects as strongly.
Poddar explained to TechCrunch that her experience with Google’s Gemini project highlighted the importance of both technological depth and user-centric product design. She founded Wajo to address this balance, aiming to create an agent that is both technologically advanced and user-friendly.
Wajo claims to be used in 107 countries and has seen a tenfold growth since its September launch. The company emphasizes privacy and safety, allowing users to specify a 'trusted contact' list and to instruct the agent not to call them again if they choose.
The agent can perform a variety of tasks, such as scheduling, gifting, and life administration, and can even call businesses or other people on behalf of the user, booking or canceling services as needed.
Wajo’s approach to social settings involves exploring how its Fo agent can operate across multiple users while maintaining privacy. The startup aims to avoid raising privacy concerns that have plagued other personal agents.
Despite the crowded personal-agent market, Wajo’s focus on trust and safety sets it apart, potentially giving it an edge in a competitive landscape.
What's still developing
- The personal-agent space has become closely competitive in recent weeks, with Meta’s Muse, OpenAI’s Dot, and Instinct taking the lead and more competitors being launched each week.
- “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 over a call.
- When you get a call, you can also tell the agent not to call you again, and Wajo records that preference.
- Shop on :) https://t.co/yx2SoknZIy The startup’s challenge is not to raise privacy concerns like other agents, especially as it is marketing safety as a core value.
- The agent can work across iMessage and WhatsApp, and has a web interface with cards of potential tasks.
Sources
- TechCrunchlink