Lucas Ropek , TechCrunch; Ollie, a privacy-focused AI assistant, is shutting down
"Ollie, which discussed its $7.5 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures with TechCrunch in September, offered a subscription-based model. The assistant was focused on helping families stay connected and organized. The app connected to a user’s email and calendar, while also providing integrated functions to help with appointment bookings, meal planning, and bill payments. The company had also planned to eventually move into household budgeting.
Crucially, Ollie was one of the first mainstream apps that managed to achieve SOC 2, a privacy compliance standard that companies can attain via an independent audit. Unfortunately, user privacy has never been a hugely profitable aspect of the tech industry. If anything, many new digital assistants present unique privacy challenges for their users — as companies like Instinct have shown.
Ultimately, the pressures of the burgeoning AI industry took a toll on the company, Lennon said."
