San Francisco-based AI startup Primitive Labs announced on October 5, 2026, that it had received an investment from Sony Innovation Fund. The investment will support the company’s research into human behavior modeling and the continued development of Instinct, its enterprise AI platform. The investment amount and financing round were not disclosed.
Founded in 2026 by Rohit Talluri, Jean Farmer, and Gabriel Fong, Primitive Labs develops AI systems designed to simulate how people make decisions and interact with digital products. Talluri serves as CEO, Farmer as CTO, and Fong as COO. The three founders previously worked together at Amazon Web Services, with Talluri and Farmer also having experience in Amazon’s artificial intelligence research operations.
The company’s Instinct platform combines enterprise user research, product analytics, and behavioral data to generate simulated customer populations. These simulations allow product, design, and research teams to evaluate customer journeys, identify potential abandonment points, and compare how different customer groups may respond to digital experiences before launch.
Primitive Labs is working with partners in retail, e-commerce, media, entertainment, advertising, and gaming. Its behavioral modeling technology is being applied to customer journeys such as account registration, onboarding, subscriptions, and checkout.
The company is also developing AI models intended to represent how people establish goals, adjust decisions, and respond to changing circumstances. Its research seeks to improve how AI systems model human behavior across digital environments.
Primitive Labs is backed by a16z speedrun, Olive Tree Capital, and Pack Ventures, alongside Sony Innovation Fund and other investors. The company is part of the a16z speedrun SR007 cohort, an early-stage startup program operated by Andreessen Horowitz.
