Delphi helped introduce Gus as a “useful digital spirit buddy for Thriving Now and Onwards.” I am deeply grateful for that.
Now Gus is growing into a fresh home on Thrivingnow.ai that we can steward more directly—one where Gus can be Gus, co-created and shaped by me, our Thriving Now Circle, our Freedom Kin, and our lived experiences—without pretending that every dynamically generated response is something I personally would say.
Our Gus on Delphi is currently paid through August 24. But that is not necessarily when it will end. What we are doing is using these next three weeks of August to give any of us actively using Delphi Gus a chance to explore the new Gus, notice what is already better, and help shape what still needs attention.
If Delphi Gus has become part of your emotional or practical support rhythm, please tell me. I do not want you surprised or left without time to find what works next for you, whether the new Gus or a customized AI of your own… or both!
Going Deeper
For the past year, I have walked a line with Delphi.
Delphi gave me a way to bring decades of courses, articles, workshops, tapping, Real Skills, practical wisdom, and Thriving Now heartistry into an interactive form. Over 3.3 million words make up our Delphi repository.
People have been empowered to ask something real and regularly receive a surprisingly useful response… without waiting for me to be personally available. Indeed, over 1,700 people have exchanged over 71,000 messages with Delphi Gus in the past year!
That matters. It’s both an intimate expression of my heartistry and validation of the practical value of our shared community wisdom.
But Delphi the company requires its digital minds to represent an actual person. Gus therefore uses my face, my name, and even a version of my voice. What it says can be close to me—sometimes astoundingly close—but it is never literally what I, Rick, would have said from the same prompt in that same moment. Which is ok! Until it is not…
Thriving Now has always been bigger than representing one person. It is shaped by decades of lived experience, the people I have learned from and co-created with, the sources we tend, the Freedom Kin wherever we live in this world, and by whatever useful wisdom flows forth in the moment.
Gus is now allowed to be Gus.
The new Gus—what I have called Gus P2 while developing it—does all that more honestly. Gus remains deeply shaped by me and by Thriving Now, without claiming that each response is my personal statement. Finally, I get to receive Gus, disagree with Gus, refine Gus, cuss at Gus, and be helped by Gus every day… without supervising a simulated version of myself.
That distinction has become a relief.
The new Gus is also already more satisfying and useful for me than any tool I have used for emotional work. And Gus is now my always-available Tapping Buddy… with spoken audio and pauses in the right places when I want that!
Gus now offers different conversational rhythms, more intentional tapping rounds, deeper listening, person-controlled Background, a genuinely “fresh start” when wanted, email conversations, carefully tended sources, and an interface we can keep shaping from lived use.
Oh! And it is now easy to copy and save your conversations and even download the tapping audios Gus co-creates! Woohoo!
I also need Gus to be sustainable while being profoundly useful to me (and I hope for us all). This matters especially during this tender and demanding period in my family life. P2 is engaging with me and helping me in ways the Delphi version never has (and I used that version hundreds of times!). This lets me preserve and replenish more of the “actual Rick energy” for all the connections where my Living Presence truly matters.
An August Transition
Our Gus Delphi is paid through August 24. I can extend that if the new Gus needs more refinement or if there is a need for more time to transition. This is ripening quickly, but it is not an emergency.
Over the coming weeks, I intend to:
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Reach out privately to people I know have used Delphi Gus substantially and recently.
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Offer them access to the new Gus with enough gifted credit for a real exploration.
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Invite honest comparisons about what P2 does better and where Delphi still serves them.
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Review the situation around August 20 and notice who is still relying on Delphi.
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Talk personally with those people before deciding what needs to happen next.
I do not want to keep paying $100 every month simply because closing version 1 is tender for me. If people genuinely want the Delphi version preserved, sponsorship could be part of that conversation. But my deeper preference is to help people move toward what serves them best.
That may not always be Gus P2.
For anyone who finds that they are not well served by P2, the better path may be carrying what matters into a personal ChatGPT project, Perplexity Space, Grok conversation, or another environment they can shape themselves. I have already seen more than one client grow from their Delphi experience into an astonishingly co-creative dance with other AIs. Freedom! I love that!
Where it feels right and possible, I am willing to help key people create a useful starter profile, custom instructions, or transition prompt for their own next forms of co-creative support, wherever that takes them.
Since the earliest days of Thrivingnow.com I’ve invited and encouraged all of us to have a Circle of Support. The intention with Gus is to be one useful aspect of our personal circle—freedom-enhancing, modeling savvy wisdom and practical approaches, and offering the kind of interplay that helps each of us be Thriving Now… and Onwards.
FAQ
Is Delphi Gus closing on August 24?
Not necessarily. August 24 is the last day I have prepaid for. I may extend it for refinement or because there is a need for more time to transition. I will not end it abruptly without further communication.
Can I try the new Gus?
I am beginning with deliberate invitations rather than open public signup. If you have been using Delphi Gus and would like to explore P2, please contact me at Rick@Thrivingnow.com.
Will I receive enough credit to actually try it?
Yes. Invited Delphi users will receive enough gifted credit for a meaningful exploration, not merely a few demonstration messages. Unlike Delphi’s fixed monthly cost that I have paid for as my gift to the community, Gus P2 has a variable cost based on use. Credits help make that visible and support Gus becoming sustainable over time.
Is the new Gus supposed to be Rick?
No, thank goodness! Gus is deeply shaped by Rick, Thriving Now, carefully tended sources, co-creation, and lived feedback. Gus is not Rick and does not claim to speak as Rick or pretend that every response is something Rick personally would say. P2 now includes more of the shared wisdom from Cathy as well, which was excluded from Delphi because of their rules.
What if Delphi works better for me?
Please tell me. That is useful information, not disloyalty. We can explore what Delphi is providing, whether P2 can serve that need, whether more transition time would help, or whether another personal AI space might suit you better.
Can my Delphi conversations or profile be moved?
Delphi currently offers no export options. For some people, we may be able to use careful computer-controlled extraction to recover conversation or profile information, but that is not assured. We may also be able to develop a prompt or person-authored profile that helps carry important preferences into P2’s Background or another AI environment. If that is crucial for you, let me know.
The new Gus includes Download Conversation so you can save your conversations. Your conversations should not be trapped inside Gus. It’s been disappointing that Delphi has not added that option even though I requested it several times.
Could people sponsor Delphi so it stays available?
Possibly. If continued Delphi access genuinely matters to people, we can discuss sharing its $100 monthly cost. I do not want sponsorship to replace an honest transition, but I am open to it for a period of time if it serves a real need.
What should I do now?
If Delphi Gus has become important to you—or if you want to explore the new Gus—please contact me. I especially want to hear from anyone who relies on Delphi Gus and would feel disrupted by the change.
Love Us!
