# Ambi Raises $26M for an AI Assistant That Can Listen All Day, and Leaves Telling Other People to You

Founded by a former Plaud executive, Ambi's iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch apps work like a meeting notetaker that can stay on. Ambient capture is off by default, but there is no built-in way to warn the people being recorded.

By Priya Nair (AI Industry Reporter) — published 2026-10-14, updated 2026-10-14
Source: https://aiscoutdaily.com/news/ambi-raises-26m-always-listening-ai-assistant

## TL;DR
Ambi, an AI assistant founded by former Plaud executive Peter Mo, has raised $26 million across multiple rounds led by Luminous Ventures with device maker Huaqin, TechCrunch reported on 12 October 2026. Its apps for iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch work like meeting notetakers but can be set to listen all day and surface suggestions from your calendar, notes, and the web. Ambient capture is off by default, and Ambi says it does not store recordings, but disclosing the recording to other people is left to the user. Pricing and launch dates were not given, and a hardware device with a screen and camera is planned.

Meeting notetakers wait for you to press record. Ambi is built around not pressing anything: you can leave it listening, and it offers help as the day goes on. That makes it more useful and more fraught than the tools it competes with.

## The deal

| Item | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Amount | $26 million, across multiple rounds |
| Lead investor | Luminous Ventures, an early backer of Meituan and Unitree Robotics |
| Also investing | Huaqin, an original design manufacturer (ODM) of devices |
| Valuation | Not disclosed |
| Team | 50+ people in San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen |
| Founder | Peter Mo, co-founder and CEO, formerly an executive at AI recorder maker Plaud |

*As reported by TechCrunch, 12 October 2026.*

## What the product does

- Apps: iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch. They work as meeting notetakers, or can listen all day if you choose.
- Suggestions: during meetings the agent surfaces knowledge and suggestions drawn from your calendar, meetings, knowledge base, and the web.
- Hand-off: you can start a task on one device and finish it on another.
- Coming: a desktop app that watches your work and stores the important parts in memory, and a hardware device with a screen, speaker, camera, and microphones.
- Not announced: pricing and release dates.

## The consent problem

Mo says ambient capture is off by default and can be switched off at any time, and Ambi says it doesn't store recordings and encrypts data, without saying how. The harder issue is everyone else in the room. Mo told TechCrunch the company has to tell users "they have to tell others about ambient capture", and said the industry hasn't solved disclosure. It is not clear whether Ambi's apps or device will alert people that they are being recorded. Meeting notetakers already face lawsuits over recording without consent, and all-day capture widens that exposure.

## What this means if you're choosing a meeting tool

Ambi isn't something you can evaluate yet: there is no price or launch date. If you're drawn to always-on capture, check your local recording-consent rules first, because with Ambi the legal duty to inform others sits with you. For recorded meetings today, a notetaker that announces itself in the call remains the lower-risk choice.

## Sources
- [TechCrunch: Former Plaud exec raises $26M for AI app that listens to you in the background (Oct 12, 2026)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/12/former-plaud-exec-raises-26m-for-ai-app-that-listens-to-you-in-the-background/)