Startup Cyclon is building an AI phone that uses apps for you

Cyclon, a startup from Y Combinator's F26 batch, is building an AI phone that uses your apps for you. Y Combinator is a well-known startup program. Cyclon hopes its phone will one day replace your iPhone.

What it does

Most assistants need app developers to build special connections before they can act inside an app. Cyclon does not wait for that. It moves through apps the way you do and can jump between several of them to finish one job. For example, you can ask it to find photos in a WhatsApp chat and send them to a friend. If the app you need does not exist, Cyclon builds one on the spot. It keeps working in the background while the phone sits in your pocket.

What you can get

The first Cyclon phone is a Pixel 8a with Cyclon preinstalled. The company says it ships within 30 days of your preorder. Starting with an existing phone makes sense because Cyclon's work happens almost entirely at the operating system level. That is the core software that runs the phone.

Cyclon also plans its own hardware. That would let it run more powerful AI models on the phone itself, paired with cloud models, and keep as much of your personal data on the device as possible.

What is not known yet

The material does not give a price. The big question is whether Cyclon can handle the layout and quirks of every app. An AI that taps through your screens also needs your trust with personal data. If it works, it could save a lot of tedious work. If not, it risks being one more assistant that promises more than it delivers.