The Path, from Tony Robbins and Calm alums, aims for safer AI therapy

When the founders of Mental, a mental health app for men, noticed that one feature—AI interactive audio—was deeply resonating with users, they realized they had found something special.

Thus, the concept for a new and potentially safer form of AI therapy app emerged, named The Path, according to co-founder and CEO Anson Whitmer.

Renowned author and motivational speaker Tony Robbins became so captivated by the startup that he joined as a co-founder.

The Path has secured $14.3 million in seed funding, led by Prime Movers Lab (where Robbins is a partner), with participation from speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, boxer Deontay Wilder, and Designer Fund.

After Prime Movers invested, Robbins started discussing minor details like branding with Whitmer and co-founder Tyler Sheaffer. But as his excitement and ideas for the app grew, they invited him to become a co-founder. Since then, the author has helped shape The Path into a therapy-and-coaching app that draws on Robbins’ widely used self-improvement methods.

Whitmer, previously an early employee at meditation app Calm alongside Sheaffer, says his focus on mental health technology stems from personal tragedies: When he was 19, a beloved uncle died by suicide.

That inspired Whitmar to pursue a PhD in psychology, with plans to enter research after graduation. Yet while he was in college, a cousin left a voicemail. “I didn’t realize until it was too late. It was also a call for help, and he took his own life,” Whitmar recalls.

This prompted a career shift toward work that could bring scientific findings to the public. Working at Calm was a natural first step, given the strong research showing meditation improves mental health. Yet after staying at Calm until 2021, Whitmar felt he could do more.

“Even though we made a significant impact, it’s not nearly enough,” he said. “The problem is that people’s issues are too idiosyncratic. Too personal. Too unique.”

Moreover, not everyone will ever have access to individual therapy or coaching. There simply aren’t enough therapists in the world.

The Path, co-founder and CEO Anson WhitmerImage Credits:The Path

Whitmar sees LLMs and AI as the bridge closing that gap. “What’s exciting and game-changing is that, for the first time in my career, I’ve seen a real possibility for every person to have the personalized access and care they need to truly get help,” he said.

In fact, this is already beginning to happen. OpenAI reports that at least 900 people use ChatGPT for mental health-related queries each week.

However, the issue with using consumer chatbots for mental health is that they are “optimized for engagement,” Whitmer says, which is the opposite of what therapy and coaching should aim for.

Consumer chatbots aim to solve problems quickly for users and reinforce ideas to keep them coming back. “But therapy and coaching don’t work that way. You aim to deeply understand the problem,” he said. The goal is to uncover assumptions and then guide the person to find their own solutions.

Whitmar says The Path’s AI is trained “to create structure, so that later you can reach a resolution,” but from a foundation of understanding.

To that end, Whitmar says the startup’s specially trained AI model achieved a score of 95 on the mental health safety AI benchmark, Vera-MH. In comparison, consumer bots scored a top of 65.

“It’s designed to challenge you, not just agree with you,” he says. In fact, he explains that the app’s model is post-trained from open-source models, so it doesn’t use any major consumer LLMs—meaning it’s not merely a wrapper over them.

The Path, which allows users to select from 11 virtual AI therapists and tailor preferences for directness and other aspects, is currently free as it builds its user base. Eventually, the startup plans to charge $40 per month.