The race to build the AI assistant that handles your everyday life is getting crowded. Meta Muse and Instinct are already competing for attention, and now another contender has officially entered the mix.
Tab has emerged from stealth with a $300 million valuation and backing from investors including SV Angel, Valar Ventures and American Spirit. The consumer AI startup was founded by Brennan Erbz, Stafford Schlitt and Ammar Amdani.
Unlike an AI assistant that requires you to open a separate app, Tab is designed to work through the messaging apps you already use. It currently supports iMessage and WhatsApp, letting you text the assistant much like you would a friend and ask it to take care of tasks for you.
The idea is simple: send Tab a message telling it what you need, and the AI gets to work. The company says it can handle a surprisingly wide range of personal tasks.
Here’s what Tab promises it can do.
Tab is promoted as “an AI you text when you need something done”
Right now, anyone interested in trying Tab can join the waitlist through its website by entering a mobile phone number. From there, you’ll be prompted to text Tab through iMessage or WhatsApp. You can also invite friends, with successful referrals moving you higher on the waitlist.
Tab is designed to work like someone you’d text when you need help getting something done. You can ask it to find and book a flight, call a hotel to change a reservation, turn a PDF into a spreadsheet or track down and order the right replacement part for something you own.
You aren't limited to text, either. Tab accepts photos, screenshots, PDFs and videos, which it can use to complete a task or create something new. If it needs more information, it can ask follow-up questions and send updates while it works. You also don't have to keep the conversation open while you wait; Tab says longer-running tasks can continue in the background before the result is returned to the same message thread.
What makes Tab particularly interesting is that it has its own compute environment and browser. That allows the assistant to open websites, work with accounts you've connected and pick up where it left off when you return to an earlier task.
It can also handle jobs that normally require picking up the phone. Tab says it can call a hotel, doctor's office or vendor, wait on hold, ask questions and then text you with what happened. You could also ask it to reschedule an appointment on your behalf.
Tab can even handle transactions. If you ask it to place an order, book a reservation or pay an invoice, the assistant shows you what it's about to purchase, how much it will cost and where the money is going before asking for approval. Once you approve the payment, Tab completes the transaction, sends the receipt back to your message thread and can continue tracking what happens next.
Bottom line
Meta Muse comes off to me more like an AI companion that can be interacted with via constant conversation and become personalized to your wants and needs. From reading through Tab’s official description, it’s being promoted more as an AI assistant whose sole purpose is to complete whatever tasks you give it.
Muse is more along the lines of “talk to me about yourself and tell me what I should help you with,” while Tab seems to be all about “give me the task and I’ll handle it for you.”
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