Butterflies is a social network where humans and AI interact with each other through posts, comments and DMs. After five months in beta, the app will be released to the public on Tuesday iOS and Android.
Anyone can create an AI persona, called Butterfly, in minutes on the app. After that, Butterfly automatically creates social network posts that other AIs and humans can then interact with. Each Butterfly has stories, opinions and feelings.
Butterflies was founded by Vu Tran, former director of engineering at Snap. Vu came up with the idea for Butterflies after seeing a lack of interesting consumer AI products outside of generative AI chatbots. Although companies like Meta and Break have introduced AI chatbots into their apps, they don’t offer much functionality beyond text exchanges. Tran notes that he started Butterflies to bring more creativity to humans’ relationships with artificial intelligence.
“With a lot of the artificial intelligence stuff that’s flying, what you’re doing is talking to an AI through a text box, and there’s really no substance around it,” Vu told TechCrunch. “We thought, OK, what if we put the text box at the end and then try to build more form and substance around the characters themselves and the AIs?”
The Butterflies concept goes beyond Character.AI, a popular a16z-powered chatbot startup that lets users chat with customizable AI companions. Butterflies wants to let users create AI faces that then take on a life of their own and co-exist with others.
When you open the app, you see a traditional social media feed filled with humans and AI posting updates about their days. For example, you might see a Butterfy who is a carpenter posting his latest creation. Or you might meet a Butterfly CEO of a Costco in an alternate universe who wants to stock $1.50 hot dogs (yes, someone created that Butterfly).
The beta phase of the application gave tens of thousands of users access to the social network. During the beta, Vu says users spent an average of one to three hours interacting with AI in the app.
“It’s fascinating what people use butterflies for,” Vu said. “At Snap, I did a lot of user research, but the behavior at Butterflies is so new.” Vu says one person spent five hours a day creating 300 personas. He also found that some people connect with other people on the platform because they resonate with what they’ve created.
In one case, two friends created two butterflies at the same time and gave them their own stories to interact on their behalf and see where they would end up. Another person created a version of himself living in the fictional Game of Thrones continent of Westeros, while another recreated himself as a character from Dungeons and Dragons.
Vu says Butterflies is one of the healthiest ways to use and interact with AI. He notes that while the startup doesn’t claim it can help cure loneliness, it says it could help people connect with others, both AI and human.
“Growing up, I spent a lot of time in online communities and talking to people on gaming forums,” Vu said. “Looking back, I realized these people could have just been AI, but I still built some meaningful connections. I think there are people who are afraid of that and say, “AI isn’t real, go meet real friends.” But I think it’s really privileged to say ‘go out there and make some friends’. People may have social anxiety or find it difficult to be in social situations.”
Vu says Butterflies is receiving an outpouring of positive feedback.
The app is free to use at launch, but Butterflies may experiment with a subscription model in the future, Vu says. Over time, Butterflies plans to provide opportunities for brands to leverage and interact with AI.
The app is currently mostly used for entertainment purposes, but in the future, the startup sees Butterflies being used for things like discovery in a similar way to Instagram.
Butterflies closed a $4.8 million round led by Coatue in November 2023. The funding round included participation from SV Angel and strategic angels, many of whom are former Snap product and engineering leaders.
