AI assistants you can text like a colleague are arriving, but check them first
A growing crop of AI agents now live in iMessage, WhatsApp and SMS, and can book, schedule and send emails for you. Several are still in beta, so it pays to check privacy before trusting one.
A new kind of AI assistant is spreading: one you simply text, as you would a colleague. TechCrunch has rounded up more than twenty of them, working through iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram or plain SMS.
The idea is that you message the agent a job, such as booking something, arranging a meeting, sending an email or making a call, and it remembers context and connects to your calendar, inbox and other apps to get it done. Some also work in group chats, and a few can place phone calls for you.
Many are very new. Several are still in beta, some only launched this year, and a number don't say what they charge. Where prices are given, they range from free tiers to about $100 a month. One lists a team plan priced per employee, and another says it keeps personal data off company systems. TechCrunch notes that one heavily funded agent has raised privacy and security concerns because of how much it can do on its own. Another asks permission before acting, and one runs entirely on your own device.
The article is a directory rather than a test, so TechCrunch hasn't judged which are any good, and it may earn affiliate commission from links.
What this means for your business
These tools can save time on admin, but they need access to your email, diary and contacts. Before letting one near customer information, check where your data goes, whether it asks before acting, and who is responsible if it gets something wrong. Try it first on something harmless, with a spare account if possible.
Source: TechCrunch, 24 October 2026. This is our own summary; read the original for the full story.