Ambi, founded by former Plaud executive Peter Mo, has raised $26 million in funding led by Luminous Ventures and Huaqin. The startup's apps for iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch are designed to listen in the background and provide real-time intelligence, going beyond meeting notetaking by surfacing suggestions during conversations based on calendar, knowledge base, and web data.
The company plans a desktop app that stores important work context and eventually a hardware device with screen, speaker, camera, and microphones. Ambi has over 50 staff across San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. The funding comes as startups like Littlebird and Minimi pursue similar ambient AI assistance, and as Apple's Audio Intelligence raises fresh privacy questions.
Mo says ambient capture is off by default and users can turn it off at any time, and that Ambi does not store recordings and encrypts data, though it did not specify the encryption. The company acknowledges that disclosure to people around the user remains an industry-wide problem, with the burden on users to tell others they are being recorded. The source notes it is unclear whether Ambi's apps or upcoming device will have sufficient indicators to alert third parties.