SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ: API), a global leader in real-time engagement and conversational AI, today announced a strategic partnership with Sentino to create a new AI Agent Platform for Physical AI-designed to help AI brands and device makers build long-term, emotionally engaging AI companions.
Built using Agora's Conversational AI Engine, the platform combines real-time conversation with memory, emotion, and multimodal expression-moving AI beyond simple chat and toward daily companionship.
"The next frontier of AI isn't just about intelligence; it's about presence. By combining Sentino's expertise in emotional depth with Agora's real-time Conversational AI Engine, we are enabling developers to move beyond transactional interactions. We're building the infrastructure for AI that doesn't just answer questions, but connects with people in a meaningful, long-term way," said Tony Wang, Agora's Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer.
From Chatbots to Companions
Most AI agents are designed to respond. Few are designed to stay.
Agora and Sentino are addressing this gap by enabling AI agents to maintain presence, remember shared moments, and express emotion over time. The result is AI that users don't just try once-but return to again and again.
A Simple, Scalable Ecosystem
- Agora provides the real-time AI infrastructure and overall platform design
- Sentino AI delivers agent personas and companion features on top of Agora's conversational AI
- Customers can quickly launch AI-powered products without building core systems from scratch
This approach reduces complexity and speeds up time to market.
Four Core Features That Create Long-Term Engagement
1. Agent "OS" (Inner Thoughts): Always Present
AI agents automatically generate short, context-aware inner thoughts based on user interaction and idle time. These reflections give the agent a sense of ongoing presence-even when no conversation is happening.
Why it matters
- Agents feel alive, not silent
- Users form stronger emotional bonds and return more often
2. AI Diary: Remembering Shared Moments
AI Diary turns daily interactions into a short, persona-consistent diary entry-capturing meaningful events and emotions without any user effort.
Why it matters
- Builds a shared history between user and agent
- Encourages users to revisit past moments, increasing retention
3. Diary Illustration: Making Memories Visual
Each diary entry can include an automatically generated, crayon-style image that reflects the agent's personality and the day's story.
Why it matters
- Adds emotional depth without extra interaction
- Especially engaging for children, families, and lifestyle devices
4. Music Diary: Turning Memories into Sound
Music Diary transforms diary content into emotion-driven music that users can replay and revisit.
Why it matters
- Deepens emotional connection through sound
- Creates opportunities for premium content and subscriptions
Why Scenario-Based AI Works
Task-based AI solves problems. Scenario-based AI builds habits.
By focusing on daily experiences-memories, reflections, visuals, and music-the platform keeps AI agents emotionally relevant and continuously engaging.
Built for Real-World Use Cases
The platform supports a wide range of Physical AI applications, including:
- AI companions and lifestyle devices
- Education and language learning
- Fandom and brand avatars
- Meditation, reflection, and emotional guidance
Shared building blocks allow brands to expand their features quickly and easily.
Executive Perspective
"We are dedicated to building human-centric AI," said Chris Chen, CEO of Sentino. "By transforming static characters into living assets, we are enabling IP holders to move beyond simple interactions and build sustainable, emotional economies with their fans."
A Platform Designed to Grow Over Time
With ongoing updates and new companion scenarios, the Agora × Sentino platform is built to evolve-without disrupting existing products.
Shaping the Future of Physical AI
Together, Agora and Sentino are redefining Physical AI as AI that feels present, personal, and worth coming back to.
About Agora
Agora is the global leader in real-time engagement, providing developers with simple, flexible, and powerful APIs to embed real-time conversational AI, voice, video, interactive live streaming, and chat into their applications and IoT devices. Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, Agora is trusted by over 1,800 leading organizations across the globe to power best-in-class real-time experiences from social media and live shopping to education and telehealth. Learn more: https://agora.io/
About Sentino
Guided by the vision of building human-centric AI, Sentino is an innovator in Physical AI, providing global IP holders with a cost-efficient IP monetization engine to transform static characters into living assets. By integrating proprietary bionic memory systems with a vertical hardware supply chain, Sentino enables instant, human-like interaction that redefines the fan economy -converting interaction costs into compounding revenue assets and driving exponential LTV growth. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sentino is trusted by top-tier global properties-including the agency of a global K-Pop icon -to power the next generation of fan engagement. Contact: contact@sentino.jp
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