Shapes, a group chat app featuring AI characters alongside humans, emerges from stealth with $8 million in seed funding.

Shapes has more than 400,000 monthly active users and has seen a sixfold increase in users since the start of the year. The funding round was led by Lightspeed, with participation from AI Capital Partners, AI Grant, and angel investors.

AI characters called 'Shapes' participate in group conversations as labeled users and can initiate messages unprompted. Users have created three million Shapes with customizable personalities, many rooted in fandom communities.

Founders Anushk Mittal and Noorie Dhingra position the app as addressing 'AI psychosis'—cases where prolonged one-on-one interactions with AI can cause delusions or paranoia—by embedding AI within everyday group conversations with real people rather than isolating users in private chats.