Flagship Pioneering Launches Iris Labs AI Chat

iris labs has launched with a $20 million initial funding commitment from Flagship Pioneering and introduced its first product, iris chat. The AI thought partner is available through iMessage and RCS. The company says its product is designed to support conversations about relationships, personal priorities, purpose, and life experiences. iris labs was conceived more than two years ago and uses psychological fitness as a framework for product development.

A Personal AI Product

iris chat learns through ongoing conversations about a user’s experiences, priorities, and aspirations, according to the company. It is designed to help users prepare for conversations, recognize patterns, clarify goals, and take steps toward what matters to them.

Armen Mkrtchyan, Ph.D., CEO, Board Member, and Co-founder of iris labs and Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering, said:

“People build resilience, purpose, and confidence through the countless small moments that shape everyday life. We created iris labs around the belief that AI can uniquely support those moments by helping people better understand what they’re experiencing, find perspective and take the next step, while keeping them firmly in charge of their own lives.”

Safety And Conversation Design

The company says iris chat combines expert-informed guidance with AI judges, agents that evaluate and refine the outputs of other agents. Its safety scaffold pairs each conversation with a parallel AI safety agent intended to assess interactions in real time and guide responses when additional safeguards are needed.

Rockwell Shah, Co-founder and President of iris labs and Partner at Flagship Pioneering, said:

“We’ve seen incredible early traction with iris chat, validating both the product and the broader platform. People aren’t just trying iris chat; they’re coming back to it time and again. That engagement reinforces something we’ve believed from the start: people want AI for more than productivity. They want technology that can help them better understand themselves, navigate their relationships, and make meaningful changes in their lives.”

Flagship’s New Company

iris labs was founded within Flagship Labs. Its founding team also includes Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, and Ayşe Muñiz, Ph.D., Principal at Flagship Pioneering.

Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering and Co-founder of iris labs, said:

“Artificial intelligence represents one of the most profound technology platforms of our time, with the potential to redefine how we understand and improve the human experience. At Flagship, we seek opportunities where breakthrough technologies can open entirely new frontiers rather than simply improve existing approaches. iris labs reflects that philosophy, exploring how AI can deepen our understanding of human wellbeing while creating a new platform at the intersection of psychology and intelligent systems.”