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Oculus Founder's AI Startup Sesame Launches Thoughtful Chat App

A New Kind of Conversation

Palmer Luckey's latest venture is turning heads in the AI space. Sesame, the conversational AI startup founded by the Oculus creator and former VR team members, has launched its iOS app in public beta. This isn't your typical chatbot experience - it's designed to think while it talks, much like humans do.

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Breaking the Q&A Mold

Traditional AI assistants force users to choose between quick responses and thoughtful answers. Sesame solves this with what it calls "parallel processing" - the AI continues searching and processing information even as it speaks. The result? Responses that evolve naturally during conversation, just like when a person adjusts their thoughts mid-sentence.

"We wanted to capture the fluidity of human dialogue," explains the team behind the technology. "Real conversations aren't rigid question-and-answer sessions - they're dynamic exchanges where ideas develop organically."

Meet Your Digital Companions

The app introduces four AI agents with distinct personalities:

  • Maya: The creative thinker
  • Miles: The practical problem-solver
  • Simone: The empathetic listener
  • Charlie: The witty conversationalist

Each has unique voice characteristics, perspectives, and memory systems. During early testing, Maya and Miles proved particularly popular, attracting over a million users in weeks. This success helped Sesame secure $250 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital.

What's New in the App

Based on user feedback, the public beta version includes:

  • Visual cards displaying image search results
  • Built-in note-taking capabilities
  • Both typing and voice input options
  • An "incognito" mode for private conversations

The latter feature is particularly interesting - while the AI can reference past chats for context, it won't store your current conversation permanently.

Looking Ahead

The iOS launch is just the beginning. Sesame plans to introduce smart glasses in 2027 that will take these AI assistants into the physical world. The ultimate goal? Moving from "thinking with you" to "acting for you" - where natural conversations translate into real-world actions across platforms.

For now, curious users in 39 countries can try the app for free, though some may encounter a brief waitlist. An Android version is already in the works.

Key Points

  • Sesame's AI processes information while speaking, creating more natural conversations
  • Four distinct AI personalities offer varied interaction styles
  • Public beta available now for iOS with Android coming soon
  • $250 million in Series B funding signals strong industry confidence
  • Future plans include smart glasses and proactive task completion