CalAI founder is building an AI assistant and considering a free model

After selling CalAI and completing the transition, its founder, Zach Gadagari, decided to start a new project in AI assistants—an idea he said he had while working on CalAI. He believes consumer apps are moving toward a single service that is simpler to operate but more sophisticated and capable. The new project’s long-term strategy remains flexible; for now, its priorities are building the best product and team.

Gadagari said the product could be entirely free or use a freemium model. Monetization options under consideration include advertising and paid search results, affiliate commissions on purchases, and, further out, platform fees from companies. He described advertising as showing products without biasing the agent’s answers, but his example contemplated not necessarily telling users that a result was an ad. He said the more complex platform-fee approach was a plan for years ahead.

The hosts said the company had raised $10 million at a $100 million valuation. Gadagari did not confirm those figures in the cited conversation, so they remain the host’s assertion.