Sesame · 2026-05-27 · major
Sesame Ships iOS Preview of Maya, Miles, Simone, and Charlie — Conversational AI From Oculus Founders Opens in 39 Countries After 1M-User Research Preview
Sesame, co-founded by ex-Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe and former Ubiquity6 CTO Ankit Kumar, opened a free iOS preview in 39 countries. Four agents ship with personal memory, parallel search cards, a texting mode, deep-dive results, and an incognito mode.
The Oculus-founder voice-AI company turns its million-user beta into a free, four-agent iOS app focused on think-out-loud conversation.
Key specs
| Price | Free during initial rollout |
|---|---|
| Countries | 39 |
| Research preview users | 1M+ in first few weeks |
| Agents | Maya, Miles, Simone, Charlie |
| Modes | Voice, Text, Incognito, Deep Dive |
What is it?
Sesame is a conversational AI startup building voice agents that aim to feel like talking to a real person rather than running a chatbot prompt loop. The iOS preview ships four agents — Maya, Miles, Simone, and Charlie — each with their own voice, personality, and persistent per-agent memory. The same company released the viral Maya and Miles demo in early 2025 that brought a million users to the Research Preview.
How does it work?
The app pairs low-latency speech-to-speech turn-taking with what Sesame calls a 'curiosity engine' that runs searches in parallel while the agent is talking. Results stream back as search cards (with image results), notes, and an optional Deep Dive panel for longer answers. A texting mode lets users keep talking to the same agent when they can't talk out loud, and an incognito mode keeps prior context in play without writing anything to long-term memory.
Why does it matter?
Voice AI is the front in which OpenAI's GPT Voice, Google's Gemini Live, and ElevenLabs Conversational AI are all converging. Sesame's pitch is built around emotional cadence (their February 2025 'crossing the uncanny valley' post is one of the most-shared posts in voice AI) and a hardware future — intelligent eyewear is on the roadmap for 2027. Shipping a polished iOS app is the bridge from research demo to product.
Who is it for?
Anyone who wants a talk-out-loud thinking partner; voice-first AI explorers
Try it
https://apps.apple.com/app/sesame