Former Plaud Executive Launches Ambi AI Assistant With $26M in Funding

Former Plaud executive Peter Mo has raised $26 million for Ambi, an AI assistant that provides real-time help by listening to conversations and gathering context throughout the day. The startup is introducing apps for iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch, with optional background listening that raises privacy and consent questions.

The company secured funding across multiple rounds led by Luminous Ventures and electronics manufacturer Huaqin. The investment will support Ambi’s development of software and hardware that makes AI assistance available beyond traditional chat interfaces.

Ambi Wants to Act During Meetings, Not Just Summarise Them

Most AI meeting assistants generate transcripts, summaries and action items after conversations end. Ambi aims to move that process forward by providing suggestions, retrieving relevant information and initiating tasks while discussions are still taking place.

The company says its assistant can draw on calendars, previous meetings, knowledge bases and web information to deliver contextual recommendations. Users can also begin a task on one Apple device and continue it on another without restarting the conversation.

Mo, who previously worked at AI recording device maker Plaud, argues that conventional AI tools often require users to wait for recordings to transfer, upload, and process. Ambi is designed to reduce that delay by making assistance available as conversations unfold.

Desktop Monitoring and Dedicated Hardware Are Planned

Ambi plans to expand beyond audio by introducing desktop softwarethat can observeg users’ work andretaing relevant details in its memory. The company says this information would help its assistant provide more personalised recommendations over time.

Other AI startups are developing similar approaches. Littlebird offers an assistant that remembers work activity across applications, while Minimi captures personal context on Mac computers to identify commitments and unfinished tasks.

Ambi is also developing a dedicated hardware device equipped with a screen, speaker, camera and microphones. The planned product would capture contextual information and display AI-generated assistance without requiring users to rely exclusively on their phones or computers.

Background Listening Raises Privacy and Consent Questions

Continuous data collection creates challenges when AI assistants capture conversations involving people who have not agreed to be recorded. Courts have already heard similar concerns, including a privacy lawsuit involving Granola, which alleges its meeting assistant can record conversations without obtaining consent from every participant.

Legal scrutiny extends to voice recognition and biometric information. A lawsuit involving Fireflies.ai alleges violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act related to the collection and handling of participants’ voice data.

Mo said Ambi’s ambient recording feature is disabled by default and can be turned off at any time. The startup says it does not retain audio recordings and encrypts collected data, although it has not specified the encryption method.

Those safeguards do not address the need to notify people nearby. Mo acknowledged that users remain responsible for disclosing when ambient capture is active and said the industry has not established a reliable way to prevent people from recording others without their knowledge.

Ambi currently employs more than 50 people across San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The company is recruiting go-to-market staff and AI engineers specialising in speech recognition as it develops its software and upcoming hardware.