Venture capital firms Sequoia and Benchmark are negotiating to lead a funding round for AI assistant Instinct. The startup is pursuing a $1 billion capital raise at a $10 billion valuation, which is $7.75 billion higher than its valuation less than a month ago, following an expansion of its user base to more than 100,000.

The funding is intended to support the scaling of the company's consumer AI tool ecosystem. Reports from The Information indicate that early market interest and rapid user growth have pushed the startup toward a valuation that could potentially exceed the $10 billion target.