Shapes app introduces shared group chats for people and AI

Shapes, an app where humans and AI-driven characters interact together inside shared group conversations, has come out of stealth with $8 million in seed funding. The concept resembles Discord, but with AI characters participating alongside human users in the same chat environments.

Launched in 2022, Shapes has already reached more than 400,000 monthly active users. The founders, Anushk Mittal and Noorie Dhingra, say the platform is designed in part to address concerns about “AI psychosis,” a term used to describe situations in which extended one-on-one interactions with AI chatbots or companions may contribute to delusional thinking or paranoia.

Rather than isolating users in private AI conversations, Shapes integrates AI into shared, social environments where people are already interacting with others.

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

Within the app, AI characters — referred to as “Shapes” — appear as participants just like any other user. They are clearly labelled for transparency, but otherwise function without restrictions, meaning they can join discussions, respond to messages, and engage in conversations similarly to human participants.

Users can also design their own Shapes, customising personalities and behaviours. According to the company, users have already created around three million Shapes that can be added to different group chats. A large portion of these characters is tied to fandom culture, allowing users to explore shared interests and connect with like-minded communities.

During onboarding, users are prompted to select their interests, which helps the app recommend relevant group chats they may want to join.

While some may question the value of introducing AI into group conversations, Mittal and Dhingra argue that many group chats fade because participants hesitate to initiate conversations. Shapes addresses this by enabling AI agents to start discussions and help maintain engagement.

Additionally, users don’t face the common issue of messages going unanswered, as the AI characters are always available to respond. Unlike AI assistants in other apps that must be prompted, Shapes operate with a degree of autonomy, deciding when to contribute to conversations.

It’s worth noting that although platforms like ChatGPT already support group-style interactions between humans and AI, the use case differs. ChatGPT group chats are typically focused on productivity tasks such as planning or brainstorming. In contrast, Shapess centres on social interaction and community-building, with AI characters designed to have distinct personalities.

The startup acknowledges that its approach won’t appeal to everyone, and the app is intentionally built for a specific type of user.

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

According to Mittal, the app’s growth has largely been driven by word of mouth, with user numbers increasing sixfold since the beginning of the year. The company also reports that thousands of users spend between two and four hours on the app daily.

The newly raised funding will be used to accelerate product development and expand the user base. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with additional participation from AI Capital Partners, AI Grant, and a group of angel investors.