Google Vet's Continua Raises $8M for AI Group Chat Agents
After dedicating over 17 years to Google, where he was a distinguished engineer and a founding member of both Google Goggles and Google Glass, David Petrou made a notable departure in early 2023. His motivation stemmed from a keen observation of the accelerating pace of technological change and a conviction that certain groundbreaking ideas are best pursued within the agile environment of a startup. Petrou’s vision ultimately coalesced into Continua, a consumer-focused company poised to revolutionize group chat interactions across platforms like SMS, iMessage, and Discord by integrating advanced AI agents.
Petrou articulates the core premise of Continua simply: “We’re bringing the power of large language models to group chats.” He identified a common user behavior where individuals would interact with AI tools like ChatGPT, glean information, and then manually copy and paste that knowledge into their group conversations. Continua aims to eliminate this friction, allowing AI to participate directly and seamlessly. Imagine planning a trip, deciding on dinner, or choosing a movie with friends; Continua envisions an AI assistant actively facilitating these discussions within the chat itself.
The company recently announced a significant milestone, securing an $8 million seed funding round. The investment was spearheaded by GV, with additional contributions from Bessemer Venture Partners and a collective of angel investors, signaling strong confidence in Continua’s innovative approach.
Continua claims its AI agents can significantly reduce the often chaotic nature of group discussions by offering relevant information precisely when needed. As groups deliberate on projects or personal plans, Continua can automatically perform a range of helpful actions: setting reminders, launching polls, adding calendar invitations, or even generating Google documents complete with checklists and to-do lists. Should a user forget specific details from a group chat, such as a meeting time or location, they can simply send a direct message to Continua for a private recall of the information.
While the application of AI in chat might appear straightforward, Petrou emphasizes the underlying technical complexity of enabling large language models to effectively participate in conversations involving multiple humans. Most existing AI models are designed for one-on-one interactions between a user and an assistant. Continua, therefore, had to meticulously fine-tune its technology to comprehend the nuanced dynamics of group chat discussions, particularly the critical need for “social intelligence.” This means the AI agent must learn when to contribute and when to remain silent, avoiding the common pitfall of responding to every utterance. Petrou noted the extensive work involved in “breaking the LLM’s brain” to achieve this natural integration. Users retain control, able to explicitly invoke Continua when assistance is desired or instruct the agent to “hang back” if its interventions become too frequent.
Getting started with Continua is designed to be user-friendly: users simply add its phone number to an SMS group or its username to a Discord chat. While the landscape of AI agents for conversations includes players like Meta and the startup Hey Umai, Petrou asserts that Continua’s distinct strength lies in its specialized suitability for complex group interactions. Erik Nordlander, a general partner at GV, confirmed his firm’s early investment in Petrou, even before the full scope of Continua’s group chat AI concept had solidified. Nordlander praised Petrou as a “brilliant engineer” who has been engaged with AI since its nascent stages. Looking ahead, Nordlander sees multiple potential avenues for Continua’s profitability, suggesting that future services like event planning and trip booking, which the agent already assists with, could become chargeable features.