<p>Personal AI agent Instinct stopped delivering WhatsApp replies to at least one user on Sunday morning, blaming a billing issue on the company's WhatsApp Business account.</p>
<p>The failure did not affect incoming messages, which continued to reach the service. The assistant answered on a second channel, Apple's iMessage, instead.</p>
<h2 id="what-the-assistant-told-its-user">What the assistant told its user</h2>
<p>The assistant explained the problem directly to the user.</p>
<p>"WhatsApp is rejecting my outgoing messages because of a billing issue on Instinct's WhatsApp Business account. It's not your account, and there's nothing you need to pay or fix. Your messages&nbsp;still reach me, but I have to reply here for now."</p>
<figure>
 <figcaption>
  A recreation of the message the assistant sent the user on Nov. 1, 2026. Redrawn by TheStreet.
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The assistant said it could not confirm whether other users were affected. It is not known how many of the company's users hit the same problem on Sunday.</p>
<h2 id="other-users-report-the-same-problem">Other users report the same problem</h2>
<p>Posts from other Instinct users on Sunday pointed to the same problem.</p>
<p>Samyak Jain <a href="https://x.com/samyakjain963/status/2116944646270267556" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">posted</a> that Instinct "is acknowledging it can't text us on WhatsApp anymore," alongside a screenshot of his own assistant telling him its WhatsApp reply was not going through.</p>
<p>Gaurav Jain <a href="https://x.com/Gaurav_j1601/status/2116938668409778217" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">wrote</a> that it "seems" WhatsApp had blocked Instinct, adding that he was waiting for founder Noah Shinn to "get back soon."</p>
<p>Another user, Atharva Padhye, <a href="https://x.com/almostpaddy/status/2116587877878624482" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">claimed</a> his WhatsApp account was banned right after he signed up for Instinct, with no way to appeal. A screenshot in his post shows a WhatsApp notice saying recent account activity did not follow its Terms of Service and that requesting a review was not available.</p>
<p>The posts also spread a rumor that WhatsApp was banning accounts for using Instinct. The account CreditCruze <a href="https://x.com/CreditCruze/status/2116938277857198156" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">asked</a> whether that was "true or just a rumour."</p>
<p>The posts are unverified reports. TheStreet could not confirm the ban claim or what caused it.</p>
<h2 id="why-billing-trouble-can-silence-a-business-on-whatsapp">Why billing trouble can silence a business on WhatsApp</h2>
<p>Instinct's agent talks to its users over WhatsApp through Meta's WhatsApp Business <a href="https://business.whatsapp.com/products/business-platform" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Platform</a>, the paid system companies use to message customers at scale.</p>
<p>Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform <a href="https://business.whatsapp.com/products/platform-pricing" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">charges</a> for some message categories, while service messages are free. Businesses pay by card on file or through monthly <a href="https://business.whatsapp.com/resources/faq" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">invoicing</a>.</p>
<p>Instinct's assistant attributed Sunday's failed replies to such a billing problem on its own business account. The company has not independently confirmed the cause.</p>
<p>Instinct, based in San Francisco, was founded by Noah Shinn. Its product is a personal agent that users text with on everyday chat apps to manage their messages, email, calendar and tasks.</p>
<h2 id="where-things-stand">Where things stand</h2>
<p>TheStreet verified the failed replies only in one user's conversation. The scope of the problem remains unknown, and the cause described by the assistant has not been independently confirmed. Instinct founder Noah Shinn did not immediately respond to TheStreet's request for comment. Meta did not immediately respond to TheStreet's request for comment.</p>
<p>Disclosure: the author of this story uses Instinct. The failed replies described here occurred in his own conversation with the agent.</p>
<p>Editor's note: As of 4:36 p.m. ET on Nov. 1, Instinct's WhatsApp replies were working again in the author's conversation.</p>
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Instinct's WhatsApp replies fail, AI agent blames billing

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