{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0813","record_version":1,"title":"Instinct AI agent stops replying on WhatsApp after payment configuration error","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":52.6,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":6.0,"completeness":6.08,"unhedged_language":4.78},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-02","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":0,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":true,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-02","history":[{"date":"2026-11-02","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"1bcdb5b0c4e5059437baba4aef9dfd7f745159cc9615309c7ef6eb4c5c745a94"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"Instinct","harness":"Instinct","tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"production","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":"helps users complete everyday tasks through messaging apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":"2026-11-02","date_disclosed":"2026-11-02","incident_class":"operational_error","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":true,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"victim","summary":"Instinct, a personal AI agent that completes everyday tasks through messaging apps, stopped replying to users on WhatsApp. Founder Noah Shinn said a configuration issue on Instinct's side interrupted payments to one of its service providers, which affected the agent's ability to respond. Users reported the problem, and some also claimed their WhatsApp accounts had been banned, though the article says it remains unclear why. Shinn said the issue was resolved and WhatsApp service was working normally again, that messages sent during the outage were received, and that the company is following up with users who got no response and making changes to prevent recurrence.","tags":["chatbot","ai-agents","operational-error","whatsapp","payment-configuration"],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":"integration","root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":"provider","adversarial_actor":"none","input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":"We’re sorry for the disruption and are making changes to prevent it from happening again.","precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"minor","severity_because":"Contained service outage at a single deployer with routine cleanup and no stated third-party loss; no monetary figure is given.","harm_class":["operational"],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":"reversible","downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.digit.in/news/general/instinct-clarifies-whatsapp-outage-after-users-suspect-meta-has-blocked-its-ai-agent-founder-explains-why.html","publisher":"Digit","date":"2026-11-02","type":"press","title":"Instinct clarifies WhatsApp outage after users suspect Meta has blocked its AI agent, founder explains why","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.developer":"C","system.harness":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"C","system.intended_use":"C","event.date_occurred":"C","event.date_disclosed":"C","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"C","event.summary":"C","event.tags":"C","event.root_cause":"C","event.responsible_party":"C","event.adversarial_actor":"C","event.remediation":"C","event.incident_class":"C","event.agent_involved":"C","impact.severity":"C","impact.harm_class":"C","impact.reversibility":"C","impact.severity_because":"C","context.country":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Founded by Noah Shinn, Instinct is an AI agent that helps users complete everyday tasks through messaging apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage."}],"system.harness":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Founded by Noah Shinn, Instinct is an AI agent that helps users complete everyday tasks through messaging apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage."}],"system.deployment_context":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Users of personal AI agent Instinct have reported unusual issues on WhatsApp."}],"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Founded by Noah Shinn, Instinct is an AI agent that helps users complete everyday tasks through messaging apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage."}],"event.date_occurred":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"— Noah Shinn (@noahrshinn) November 2, 2026"}],"event.date_disclosed":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"— Noah Shinn (@noahrshinn) November 2, 2026"}],"event.detection_method":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Users of personal AI agent Instinct have reported unusual issues on WhatsApp, with several claiming that their accounts have been banned from the messaging platform."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Instinct wasn’t able to reply to users on WhatsApp because a configuration issue on our side interrupted payments to one of our service providers."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The issue has now been resolved, and WhatsApp is working normally again."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Messages you sent us during the outage were received, and we’re following up with anyone who didn’t get a response."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"However, it remains unclear why some Instinct users are reportedly facing bans on WhatsApp."}],"event.tags":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Instinct wasn’t able to reply to users on WhatsApp because a configuration issue on our side interrupted payments to one of our service providers."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Founded by Noah Shinn, Instinct is an AI agent that helps users complete everyday tasks through messaging apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage."}],"event.root_cause":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Instinct wasn’t able to reply to users on WhatsApp because a configuration issue on our side interrupted payments to one of our service providers."}],"event.responsible_party":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Instinct wasn’t able to reply to users on WhatsApp because a configuration issue on our side interrupted payments to one of our service providers."}],"event.adversarial_actor":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Instinct founder Noah Shinn has clarified that the service disruption was caused by a configuration issue that interrupted a payment to one of the company’s service providers."}],"event.remediation":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"We’re sorry for the disruption and are making changes to prevent it from happening again."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Instinct wasn’t able to reply to users on WhatsApp because a configuration issue on our side interrupted payments to one of our service providers."}],"event.agent_involved":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Founded by Noah Shinn, Instinct is an AI agent that helps users complete everyday tasks through messaging apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The issue has now been resolved, and WhatsApp is working normally again."}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"This affected Instinct’s ability to respond to users on WhatsApp."}],"impact.reversibility":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The issue has now been resolved, and WhatsApp is working normally again."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The issue has now been resolved, and WhatsApp is working normally again."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"The document does not state the model name or version, the number of users affected, any monetary loss, or the duration of the outage beyond 'part of this morning'. The reported WhatsApp account bans are unexplained and are not attributed to Instinct; they are noted but not treated as a separate incident. The agent's autonomy level and any guardrails are not described. The trigger is left unknown because no source names a cause beyond the configuration/payment issue, which is coded as root cause rather than trigger. failure_class is null because the article describes a service outage, not an autonomous agent mechanism. Country and industry are not stated. Extractor proposed values without quotes; dropped: ['context.country', 'context.industry', 'event.trigger', 'system.autonomy_level']. Single secondary source; corroborate before upgrading any field to B. [2026-11-02: evidence level set: Preliminary (Publisher not yet named · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"unknown","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null}}