Acti Launches AI-Powered Keyboard for iOS and Android Devices

On Tuesday, Acti, a Singapore-based startup, unveiled an AI-driven keyboard designed for both iOS and Android devices that extends beyond word prediction to execute tasks within various apps such as email, messaging, and social media.

Young Wang, the founder and CEO of Acti, explained that this innovation addresses the common challenge users face when switching between multiple applications to access AI assistance. He stated in an email interview with TechCrunch that existing AI agents are limited because user context remains divided across separate apps. Acti integrates across these platforms, enabling the creation of a user-centered context layer rather than one tied to any specific platform, which Wang described as the foundation for the AI-agent era.

How Acti Integrates AI into Daily Communication

Acti’s approach diverges from traditional AI chatbots by embedding AI functionality directly into the interfaces users already engage with. For example, if a conversation mentions dining options, Acti can suggest nearby restaurants within the chat itself. Similarly, if a stock is referenced, the keyboard can provide live price updates without requiring users to leave the app.

Powered by Google’s Gemini models, Acti balances intelligence, speed, reliability, multilingual capabilities, and cost efficiency. A notable feature called Skills enables users to assign a single keyboard key to trigger complex, automated tasks like translating messages or sharing meeting links instantly.

Privacy and User Control in Acti’s Design

Acti operates on a local-first principle, ensuring that personal context remains on the user’s device by default to protect privacy. The company specifies that it does not access or store private messages or personal data unless users explicitly activate features that require external processing.

Wang’s motivation for developing this AI keyboard stems from his experience at Baidu, where he helped grow the Facemoji Keyboard to over 300 million daily active users. He observed that language input has evolved into a medium for expressing intent, which can now be directly translated into action, prompting him to reinvent the keyboard as a foundational tool for the AI era.

Features and Business Model of Acti

The app includes pre-installed Skills such as “T” for translating messages by long-pressing the key and “C” for sending meeting links. Users can create custom Skills without coding by describing desired functions in natural language, with early testers having developed over 1,000 Skills within two weeks.

Skills can be kept private or shared publicly via a Skills marketplace, which currently features tools for accessing live World Cup data and Polymarket links. This marketplace may also provide future monetization opportunities.

Funding and Team Behind Acti

Acti recently secured $5.3 million in seed funding led by BITKRAFT Ventures. Jonathan Huang, a partner at BITKRAFT Ventures, expressed confidence in Acti’s potential to lead the next phase of human-computer interaction.

The team includes CTO Mike Sun, formerly the founding technical lead for Baidu’s Yike Album cloud-photo platform, and CSO Junbo Yang, who joined from HashKey Capital where he managed numerous consumer investments.

Acti is currently available for download on both iOS and Android platforms.