Pi
A quietly pleasant, empathetic AI companion — still free, still online, and largely left to run on its own after its creators moved to Microsoft.
What is Pi?
Pi — short for "personal intelligence" — was built by Inflection AI, a company founded in 2022 by DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and researcher Karén Simonyan. From launch in May 2023, Pi was deliberately different from its competitors: rather than optimize for coding benchmarks or productivity tasks, it was tuned to be warm, a good listener, and genuinely conversational — closer to talking something through with a thoughtful friend than issuing commands to an assistant.
The more important part of Pi's story happened in 2024, and it's worth knowing before you get attached to it. Suleyman and most of Inflection's core research team left to run Microsoft's AI division, as part of a deal reportedly worth around $650 million that also licensed Inflection's technology to Microsoft. Inflection AI itself pivoted to selling enterprise AI and licensing, leaving Pi to run largely as-is for existing users. It's still online, still free, and still pleasant to talk to — but it's fair to describe it as being in maintenance mode rather than active, competitive development.
The Microsoft licensing figure is a widely reported estimate, not an official disclosed amount. Product status reflects public reporting as of mid-2026 — check pi.ai directly, as app-store availability has reportedly varied by region since the 2024 pivot.
Key features
Empathetic conversation
Tuned to listen and respond supportively rather than jump straight to a task-oriented answer.
Natural voice mode
Talk to Pi out loud and hear it respond in one of several distinct, natural-sounding voices.
Ongoing memory
Remembers context and preferences across conversations rather than starting fresh each time.
Discover feed
Surfaces news relevant to your interests in a summarized, conversational format.
Multi-platform access
Reachable through the web, mobile apps, and even messaging channels like SMS and WhatsApp.
Real-time web search
Pulls current information into the conversation rather than relying purely on training data.
Pricing
Personal use
- No subscription, no usage caps
- Voice chat, memory & web search included
- No ads shown in the interface
Enterprise licensing
- Not the same product as consumer Pi
- Custom conversational AI for businesses
- Contact Inflection AI directly for terms
There is no paid consumer tier for Pi. Inflection AI's current commercial focus is enterprise licensing of its underlying technology, a separate business from the free consumer app. Confirm current availability directly at pi.ai, as the company's priorities have shifted since 2024.
Available models
Pi does not offer a choice of underlying model — it runs on Inflection's own conversational model, and there's no indication of frequent public updates since the 2024 team departure.
Integrations & platforms
Pros, cons & best for
Pros
- Genuinely warm, low-pressure conversational style
- Completely free with no ads or usage limits
- Natural voice mode is still one of the nicer implementations around
Cons
- Development has slowed sharply since its founders left in 2024
- Not built for coding, analysis, or serious productivity work
- Long-term support for the free consumer app isn't guaranteed
Best for
- Casual, reflective conversation or thinking out loud
- Practicing dialogue or getting a supportive sounding board
- Anyone who wants voice-based chat without a subscription
Take a look inside
Alternatives
If you want a companion-style assistant that's still under active development:
Our verdict
Pi is a strange case: genuinely good at the one thing it set out to do — warm, low-stakes conversation — while also being a clear example of what happens when a startup's best people and technology get absorbed by a much bigger company. It's still free, still pleasant, and still worth trying if what you want is a supportive AI to think out loud with rather than a task-completion engine. Just go in with the right expectation: this isn't a product racing to add new features every month anymore, and its long-term future as a standalone app is genuinely less certain than most other tools on this list.
FAQ
Is Pi still being developed?
Active development has slowed significantly since 2024, when Inflection AI's founders and core team moved to lead Microsoft's AI division. Pi remains online and functional but is best understood as being in maintenance mode.
Is Pi free?
Yes, entirely — there is no subscription, paywall, or usage cap for the consumer app.
What happened to Inflection AI?
In 2024, co-founder Mustafa Suleyman and most of the core research team departed to run Microsoft's AI division, in a deal that also licensed Inflection's technology to Microsoft. Inflection AI pivoted toward enterprise licensing as its main business.
Is Pi good for work tasks or coding?
No, it's not designed for that and will likely struggle or produce unreliable answers on analytical or coding tasks. It's built for conversation, not productivity.
Can I talk to Pi by voice?
Yes, Pi supports natural spoken conversation with a choice of several distinct voices, in addition to text chat.
Is Pi still available on the app stores?
Availability has reportedly varied by region since Inflection's 2024 pivot. If you can't find the app, pi.ai's mobile web version remains a reliable fallback.