A controversial new app that records users’ phone calls and sells the audio to AI companies has surged to the top of Apple’s App Store charts in the U.S.
The app, called Neon Mobile, promises users “hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year” for granting access to their conversations. According to the company’s website, Neon pays 30 cents per minute when users call other Neon members, with a cap of $30 per day for calls to non-Neon users. The app also includes a referral program.
App intelligence firm Appfigures shows that Neon climbed from No. 476 in the Social Networking category on September 18 to No. 10 just days later. On Wednesday, it reached No. 2 in social apps and briefly ranked as high as the No. 6 overall app in the U.S.
Neon’s terms of service confirm that it records both inbound and outbound calls, though the company claims only the user’s side of the conversation is captured unless the call involves another Neon user. The data is then sold to AI firms to “develop, train, test, and improve” machine learning systems.
Legal experts say Neon’s design may allow it to skirt wiretap laws, which in many states require consent from both parties to record a call. But its sweeping data license gives the company broad rights to use, sell, and distribute user recordings far beyond what its marketing suggests.
Privacy attorneys warn that even if personal identifiers are stripped, voice recordings could be misused, for example, to generate deepfake voices for fraud. Neon also doesn’t disclose which AI firms receive the data or how it may be used.
In a brief test by TechCrunch, Neon provided no indication that calls were being recorded, nor did it alert recipients. The app functioned like a normal VoIP call, with the usual caller ID display.
Neon was founded by Alex Kiam, identified only as “Alex” on the company’s website, and is reportedly operating out of a New York apartment. Upfront Ventures is said to have invested in the startup, though the firm declined to comment.
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The app’s rapid rise raises broader questions about whether users have become desensitized to privacy concerns in the AI era. Where past data-collection schemes sparked outrage, apps like Neon suggest a growing market of consumers willing to trade privacy for cash, even if it puts both themselves and their contacts at risk.
