Observed Signal · Feb 25, 2026 · Funding · Source: Newcomer · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Startups Aim to Make AI More Human
A wave of early-stage startups is building AI agents designed to simulate human emotions, intentions and behavior. Simile raised a $100 million round led by Index partner Shardul Shah after training models on recorded conversations and behavioral-science data to predict emotional reactions. New ventures named in the piece include Prior Computers (founded by researchers from MIT and Harvard), People Make Things (stealth, focused on intent prediction), Aaru (valued near $1 billion in a recent round led by Redpoint), Humans& (founders from Google, Anthropic and xAI with $480 million of backing), Expected Parrot (an open-source interview dataset), and Constellation Systems (seeded to build a foundation model of “human state”). The coverage highlights investor momentum and varied technical approaches to modeling human-like responses for applications such as market research, customer simulation and collaboration tools.
Multiple sizable funding events and new startups building models that simulate human emotion/intent could influence personalization, market-research automation and conversational interfaces—areas adjacent to AdTech. The investor momentum signals growing capability and potential integration opportunities for advertising and customer-experience tooling.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Simile raised a $100 million round led by Index partner Shardul Shah.
- Simile trained its model on recorded human conversations, business meetings, and scientific-journal data about human behavior.
- Prior Computers was founded by researchers and engineers from MIT’s Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines and Harvard psychology/brain science departments to build systems that learn and think like people.
- Aaru reached a near-$1 billion valuation in a funding round led by Redpoint Ventures (reported by TechCrunch).
- Humans& launched with founders from Google, Anthropic and xAI and raised $480 million from Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, SV Angel, and GV.
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Interhuman AI teaches AI to read non-verbal human signals
Copenhagen-based Interhuman AI has launched Inter-2, a model that detects 12 social signals such as hesitation, uncertainty, and agreement in real-time from text, audio, and video. The startup aims to introduce Artificial Social Intelligence, enabling AI to understand non-verbal cues. Co-founded by CEO Paula Petcu, COO Frederik Sally, and CRO Line Clemmensen, the company is building its own models in Europe. Inter-2 delivers up to four times faster inference with improved benchmark performance. The technology is targeted at applications in corporate training, digital health, sales coaching, and market research. Interhuman emphasizes transparency and traceability of model outputs, adhering to GDPR and EU AI Act. The company is expanding into voice-only interactions and will announce two additional models in October.
Investors Are Betting on AI Agents That Shop for You
Venture capitalists are increasingly funding startups building AI agents that can shop on behalf of consumers and handle payments. The article maps the emerging market for "agentic commerce," covering personal assistants like Instinct and Town, shopping search tools like Daydream, payment infrastructure startups like Catena Labs and Basis Theory, and marketing tech such as Profound. Major platforms are also moving: OpenAI and Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol, Google operates the Agent Payments Protocol, and Visa and Mastercard introduced Trusted Agent Protocol and Agent Pay. However, the space faces trust and fraud challenges, illustrated by Phia's cookie-stuffing scandal and an Instinct agent error that cost a user around $300. Investor interest remains strong, with millions raised across the sector, even as enterprise adoption lags due to compliance and security concerns.
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