When talking to chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, the response is almost linear. You often need to ask follow-up questions to get more information. For example, if you're planning a trip, start by asking the chatbot questions about the location, followed by questions about meal plans, activities, travel tips, packing list, and more.
A team of former Google Maps engineers is building an infinite board interface called Cove. This design helps generate multiple responses based on one question or prompt to the AI bot.
The startup, founded by Stephen Chau, Andy Szybalski, and Mike Chu, has raised a $6 million seed round from Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil, Homebrew, Adverb, Scott Belsky, Lenny Rachitsky, and other angel investors.
The team has previously worked on several well-known Google Maps features, including Street View. Mr. Chau and Mr. Cybalski later joined Uber and were part of the team that helped launch Uber Eats. Sequoia's lead investor in this round, Jess Lee, was also a colleague of Google Maps' Cove co-founder.
When they started working on the product, the trio felt that AI could be even more useful in collaborative settings, especially for tasks like planning, writing, storyboarding, and research. In a phone call with TechCrunch, Chow said thinking is a messy process, and you're constantly repeating it in your head while you're working on something. Your brain gradually generates branching thoughts.
“A lot of the inspiration for Cove comes from thinking about how we are used to human-to-human collaboration. When we work with other people, we have a shared space, like a room; There's a shared context and you can communicate about things together. That's what we wanted to build with Cove,” Chau said, adding that the startup has an infinite canvas as an interface. I explained in detail the reasons for my selection.
He opined that the AI chat interface is very linear and non-editable. For the most complex projects, having to handle multiple conversation threads can be tedious.
product
Cove has an endless board interface on the web with a chatbot window in the bottom right corner. The bot will show you some project suggestions that you can work on through prompts. This eliminates the need for users to simply stare into blank space and wonder how to get started. These examples include typical phrases such as “Help me choose a birthday present for my mother who loves gardening” and “Help me plan a week-long trip to Yosemite for my family of four.” Contains prompts.
Image credit: Screenshot by TechCrunch
When you click on one of these prompts, Cove generates multiple response cards containing tables and lists related to the prompt. For example, when you ask a chatbot about travel plans, it generates cards for planning meals, preparing essentials, general tips, a list of hikes, and even creating an itinerary.
You can edit any part of these cards by selecting the text and seeing the prompts. You can also create spin-off cards or add points, lists, or table elements to existing cards.
Users can add further context by adding PDFs, links via the built-in browser, images, or new blank cards. You can also ask Cove questions about specific elements by referencing and mentioning various cards.
This is a collaborative bulletin board, so you can share links with anyone. Similar to Google Docs, you can share it as a “view-only” board or share it with editing capabilities, depending on your needs. If people are collaborating on one board, everyone can invoke the AI individually.
The startup has also released a Chrome extension. As you browse a website, you can call the extension to ask the AI bot questions about the site and content on your screen and add it to your project or one of your cards.
Image credit: Cove
opportunities and limitations
There are many whiteboard tools for collaboration, including Miro, TLDraw, Kosmik, and Visual Electric (also supported by Sequoia).
Cove believes its AI capabilities can attract different types of users to use its products. The company said it uses a variety of models, including models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta (Llama), and Perplexity, to balance the cost of querying and providing quick answers.
Cove currently only works with a web interface, so the best way to use it is on your desktop. Boards are also accessible on mobile, but small screens aren't the ideal way to view them.
The founders say people use the tool to plan home renovations, grow their businesses and discover new sales projects. The company itself uses Cove to review customer feedback and create better support articles.
“In some products, the AI does the work, and in others, the AI does all the work. Cove is designed so that the AI is a thinking partner and collaborator. An oracle that tells you what to do. Instead, think of it as an assistant to help you,” Sequoia's Lee said.
Cove is free to use with a limit of 100 cards. To unlock unlimited cards and get early access to new features, users must pay $10 per month.