Some early users are deleting personal AI agents, citing privacy scares and blunders

Personal AI agents aren't for everyone.

Many early adopters of Instinct and Meta's Muse have said the digital assistants saved them time and money by searching the web, managing inboxes and calendars, disputing bills, booking travel, and making purchases.

For some, blunders and privacy scares from their agents have proven too unnerving.

Four early adopters, among dozens of people raising similar concerns on social media, told Business Insider they had deleted or restricted personal AI agents over concerns about the sensitive data and account access the tools need to work effectively.

Guto Martino, a cofounder of Hermes Agents Brasil, a community that helps people build and run open-source personal AI agents, told Business Insider he deleted Instinct because he was unsure how the company handled his information.

"I have no clue where my data is going and what kind of privacy I do get from using that agent," Martino said.

Martino's decision follows a string of troubling episodes involving personal AI agents. Users have reported agents accessing one-time login codes from Gmail without asking, hallucinating personal information from a document that was never sent, and triggering a carrier-account login prompt apparently originating from Iran.