Inflection AI, the Palo Alto-based startup founded by DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, has recently announced the release of its AI chatbot ‘Pi’ as a dedicated app on Android. This move is expected to provide billions of users with access to Pi, as the startup competes with other popular AI assistants such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, xAI’s Grok, and Anthropic’s Claude.
Improved Branding and User Experience
The company has also made enhancements to the app’s branding, including changes to colors, illustrations, and the Pi logo. In a blog post, Inflection AI expressed that users have always appreciated the sleek and clean aesthetic of the app, and these updates continue to maintain that identity while adding a touch of extra flair.
The Powerful Capabilities of Pi
Available in 35 countries, including the U.S. to start with, the Pi Android app aims to provide users with a similar experience to that of the iOS version. Users can now ask the chatbot any question on any topic and receive instant answers, suggestions, or tips. What’s even more interesting is that the Pi chatbot supports voice interactions, similar to ChatGPT. Users can chat with Pi by simply speaking their thoughts, leading to a seamless back-and-forth conversation. Inflection AI offers users six different voice options for Pi, comparing the experience to a phone call.
Inflection AI launched Pi in May and has been running it on the Inflection-1 language model. However, the company plans a significant upgrade with Inflection-2, which promises improved factual knowledge, stylistic control, and reasoning abilities. The ultimate goal of Pi, which stands for personal intelligence, is to provide users with an “empathetic, useful, and safe” companion that offers a more personalized and informal interaction than other AI assistants like ChatGPT, Bing, or Bard.
Expanding Inflection AI’s Reach
With over 3 billion global Android users, making Pi available on the platform is a strategic move for Inflection AI. It allows the company to reach a larger user base and expand its presence. However, the competition remains strong, especially against already established AI assistants like ChatGPT, which boasts a user base of nearly 200 million across Android and iOS platforms. In October 2023 alone, the OpenAI chatbot received approximately 1.7 billion cumulative visits and had 193 million unique users.
Furthermore, Pi also faces competition from other AI assistants such as Bard, backed by Google’s search capabilities, Claude, developed by Anthropic, and Grok, created by xAI and famously known for its distinct, sarcastic personality. Notably, Grok benefits from real-time X data and direct integration with the platform, giving it an additional advantage in terms of reach.
