Meet Shapes, the app that brings humans and AI together in the same group chats

Shapesan app where humans and AI characters chat together in shared group chats, is coming out of nowhere with $8 million in seed funding. Think Discord, but with AI characters alongside humans.

Founded in 2022, Shapes has over 400,000 monthly active users. The app’s founders, Anushk Mittal and Noori Dhingra, believe Shapes can address issues related to “Artificial intelligence psychosis“, which refers to instances where prolonged interactions with AI chatbots or AI companions can lead individuals to develop delusions or paranoia.

Instead of isolating people through one-on-one interactions with AI, Shapes allow people to connect with AI in their everyday interactions with real people.

“Today, all of our conversations with AI are very private and one-on-one conversations, but that’s not how humans collaborate and communicate with each other,” Shapes CEO Mittal told TechCrunch in an interview. “Our lives run on group conversations. This is where we spend all our time. This is where we talk and communicate with each other. It’s only natural that we bring AI into those same conversations where the AI ​​has all the context and is readily available to help you.”

In the app, AI characters, called “skins,” are viewed like any other user and can interact in the same ways that humans can. They are clearly labeled as “forms” for transparency, but are not restrictive.

Users can create their own skins and set their own personalities. The company says users have already created three million skins to add to group chats. Many forms are rooted in fandom, with the app serving as a way for fans to delve into the subculture and meet other fans.

When users sign up for the app, they are asked to choose their interests so that the app can recommend a selection of group chats they might want to join.

While some may question the need to add AI to group chats, Mittal and Dhingra believe that one of the main reasons group chats have stopped is because some participants don’t want to be the first person to send a message. Shapes solve this problem, as AI agents can start conversations and play a key role in keeping them going.

Additionally, users don’t have to worry about not receiving a response to their messages because the skins will always acknowledge and respond to them. Unlike AI companions in other apps that need to be summoned, skins have free will and can decide when to send messages.

It’s worth noting that while the popular chatbot ChatGPT already allows AI and humans to talk in group conversations, these conversations work differently than formats. For example, when you create a group chat in ChatGPT, it’s mostly for planning or brainstorming. However, in the skins game, it’s all about community-style social interactions with AI characters that have different personalities.

The startup realizes that not everyone will want to integrate AI into their group chats, which is why the app is designed for a specific type of online user.

“Forms is about human conversations,” Mittal said. “It’s more of a next-generation chat app than an AI app. The demographic is people who are obsessively online, who spend a lot of time online connecting and sharing. These are users who come in and get a chance to obsess about their interests, and the AI ​​acts as a facilitator in those conversations.”

Mittal says Shapes’ growth has been driven by word of mouth, with the app seeing a six-fold increase in users since the beginning of the year. The company also says that thousands of users spend between two and four hours on the app daily.

As for the new funding, the company plans to use it to accelerate the development process and user acquisition. The round was led by Lightspeed, with participation from AI Capital Partners, AI Grant, and angel investors.