In a post on X, Instinct CEO Noah Shinn said the error interrupted payments to one of the company’s service providers, which knocked out the WhatsApp channel. “The issue has now been resolved, and WhatsApp is working normally again. Messages you sent us during the outage were received, and we’re following up with anyone who didn’t get a response,” Shinn wrote. He apologised for the disruption and said the company is making changes to keep it from happening again.

Around the same time, a number of Instinct users reported that their WhatsApp accounts had been banned, according to the report. There is no confirmed link between the bans and the outage, and Instinct has attributed the disruption to its own configuration error rather than any action by Meta. WhatsApp’s terms of service prohibit unauthorised automation and third-party tools, and its moderation systems can block accounts flagged for such activity.

The episode comes at a time of friction between Meta and rival AI services on WhatsApp. Meta earlier this year cut competing AI services off from the WhatsApp for Business API while exempting its own Meta AI assistant, before restoring access for a fee in March, a move that drew objections from EU antitrust regulators, according to the report.

What is Instinct?

Instinct is a personal AI agent from a San Francisco-based startup founded by Shinn. Users text or call the agent on WhatsApp and delegate everyday tasks to it, such as booking reservations, finding cheaper flights or cleaning up an email inbox. The startup raised $1 billion in its latest funding round, according to the report. For a fuller breakdown of how it works, see Tech Raman’s Instinct AI explainer.

Shinn said the company will keep users informed whenever a similar issue affects the service.