Meta’s personal AI agent Muse is only a few weeks old, and the social networking giant isn’t wasting any time building out what may be its biggest bet on consumer AI to date.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the company’s annual Connect event in Menlo Park on Wednesday with a keynote that made one thing clear: Meta is going all-in on Muse.
The Muse agent (the physical avatar is named Jolly, according to Zuckerberg) is designed to handle everyday tasks by connecting to users’ apps and services, including email and calendars. At Connect, Zuckerberg introduced a slew of new capabilities and integrations to make Muse more useful and more deeply woven into users’ daily lives. Muse will be everywhere, if the user chooses, including on their Meta AI glasses.
Muse, which launched in early September, interacts across a user’s devices and digital accounts. The agent is powered by Muse Spark, Meta’s multimodal AI model built for agentic work. Meta has touted it as a more accessible agent than those offered by competitors — an AI helper that, from the jump, allows users to automate the busy work in their lives.
“The centerpiece of our vision for what we’re building is Muse,” Zuckerberg said as he kicked off a keynote donning khakis and a black T-shirt with the words “Building is My love Language” emblazoned across the front. “In the coming years, I expect that Muse is going to grow into the personal superintelligence that billions of people around the world are going to use to accomplish their goals and improve their lives.”
Zuckerberg also believes that Muse will make money for its users — and of course, eventually for Meta.
“We’re standing behind this by making Muse free for a huge number of tokens, with the expectation that over time we will profit by taking a small fee from transactions,” he said.
Here are the new features and capabilities that got our attention …
Muse gets its own digital avatar
One of the more fun announcements made Wednesday is that Muse users will soon have the ability to conjure a distinct digital avatar for their particular agent and then video chat with it in real time. A new AI model, Muse Realtime Avatar, has been developed to power the particular feature, the company says.
The idea is that Meta’s previously faceless AI software will be given a face, body, and voice, making them significantly more personable. There’s certainly a hint of Metaverse-ishness to this feature, which was demoed on stage at Connect. Users will be able to have live conversations with this avatar, giving it tasks and asking it questions.
Muse will also be integrated with Meta’s smart glasses line, the company announced. This means that users will be able to communicate with their agent merely by speaking to their glasses. The agent activates via a wake word, the company said, adding that it will be able to guide users through a personalized workout, log meals, book an appointment, and help them buy products they see.
Meta said Muse will work in the background and check back in when it’s done.
It’s not clear exactly when this feature will become available, although Meta says that it should launch sometime in “the coming months.”
Soon, you’ll be able to let Muse run your Mac
Meta says it is bringing Muse computer work to Mac. The company had previously talked about Muse coming to Mac, and spent more time on Wednesday providing a few new details. This means that users will be able to delegate tasks to the agent, and — much like other popular AI agents from OpenAI and Anthropic — Muse will be able to operate any app on a user’s desktop.
“You can have it help you run your small business, or just get work done for you,” Meta’s chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said Wednesday during the keynote. “You can walk away from your computer and it keeps working for you on all the jobs you lined up.”
Muse will get its own email address
Since Muse will always be working in the background, it will naturally need its own email address. Meta’s Wang announced it is developing that feature and will make it available “soon,” without providing a more precise timeline.
Users will also be able to add Muse to an email thread or forward emails from the agent to handle on their behalf.
Meta has locked in partnerships with companies like Stripe and Shopify, illustrating that the company sees Muse as an important tool for shopping.
Muse can access the entire Shopify product catalog agentically and use Lync and now Shop Pay to buy almost anything on the internet, according to Wang, who noted that Meta has also added more support for payments with PayPal.
The company also announced a string of new partnerships with retailers, including Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Walmart, and Wayfair. Muse will be able to connect with these retail apps as well as with Expedia and soon, Instacart. Other connectors include GitHub, Granola, and Notion.
Wang noted that the company wants Muse to connect with small business too. Meta recently opened its platform to allow developers to build their own “connectors.” The company received more than 1,500 applications in less than week, he said, adding “I think this could be a generational opportunity to start building for a new platform as it takes off, and the response so far has been really great.”
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Meta’s Muse: An AI Agent for a Supercharged Future
Key Takeaways:
- Meta’s All-In AI Bet:CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared Meta’s full commitment to Muse, positioning it as a future “personal superintelligence” designed to automate everyday tasks and integrate deeply into users’ digital lives.
- Immersive & Pervasive Integration:Muse is evolving beyond a faceless assistant, gaining a distinct digital avatar (“Jolly”) for video interactions, integrating seamlessly with Meta AI glasses, and extending its capabilities to control desktop applications on Mac, alongside managing its own email.
- Strategic Monetization & Ecosystem Expansion:While initially free, Meta plans to monetize Muse through transaction fees, building an extensive network of partnerships with major retailers and payment platforms, and fostering a thriving developer ecosystem through an open connector platform.
Meta, a company not shy about grand visions, has made its latest bet abundantly clear: a full-throttle commitment to its personal AI agent, Muse. Just weeks after its initial debut, CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stage at the company’s annual Connect event in Menlo Park, signaling that Muse isn’t just another product—it’s poised to become the cornerstone of Meta’s consumer AI strategy. Clad in a black T-shirt emblazoned with “Building is My love Language,” Zuckerberg’s keynote speech underscored a palpable urgency and ambition to weave Muse deeply into the fabric of daily digital existence.
The vision for Muse is nothing short of transformative. Zuckerberg articulates a future where Muse evolves into a “personal superintelligence” capable of handling a vast array of everyday tasks by seamlessly connecting to users’ apps and services, from email to calendars. This isn’t merely an AI chatbot; it’s an agent designed for “agentic work,” powered by Meta’s multimodal AI model, Muse Spark. Meta aims to make Muse a uniquely accessible AI helper, automating “busy work” from the outset and promising to free up user time and mental bandwidth.
Monetizing the Superintelligence: A Transactional Future
Beyond utility, Zuckerberg laid out a clear path for monetization. While Muse will offer a generous allowance of free tokens, Meta envisions profiting by taking a “small fee from transactions” facilitated by the AI. This strategy positions Muse not just as a productivity tool but as a significant player in the e-commerce and service economy, creating a direct financial incentive for Meta as its AI agent becomes indispensable.
Bringing Muse to Life: New Features & Deeper Integrations
Connect unveiled a suite of new capabilities designed to make Muse more personable, pervasive, and powerful:
A Face, Voice, and Presence: The Muse Avatar
Perhaps the most engaging announcement was the upcoming ability for Muse users to conjure a distinct digital avatar for their agent, named “Jolly” by Zuckerberg himself. Powered by the new Muse Realtime Avatar AI model, this feature will allow users to video chat with their AI in real-time. This move signals a significant step towards humanizing AI interaction, injecting a “Metaverse-ishness” into what was previously a faceless software experience. Users will be able to converse live, delegate tasks, and ask questions of a visually present AI companion, moving the interaction closer to a natural, conversational dynamic.
Seamless Integration: From Smart Glasses to Desktop
Muse’s reach is extending far beyond traditional screens. It will be deeply integrated with Meta’s smart glasses line, allowing users to communicate with their agent through simple voice commands. A wake word will activate Muse, enabling it to guide personalized workouts, log meals, book appointments, and even assist with purchasing products seen in the real world. This hands-free, contextual interaction promises a new level of convenience, with Muse working diligently in the background and checking back in upon task completion.
Further extending its reach, Muse is coming to Mac, a significant expansion that allows the agent to operate any application on a user’s desktop. Meta’s chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, emphasized this capability, stating, “You can have it help you run your small business, or just get work done for you. You can walk away from your computer and it keeps working for you on all the jobs you lined up.” This positions Muse as a formidable desktop automation tool, rivaling advanced AI agents from competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic.
An Autonomous Identity: Muse Gets an Email Address
To truly function as an autonomous agent, Muse will soon receive its own email address. This feature, currently in development, will enable users to loop Muse into email threads or forward messages, delegating email management tasks directly to the AI. This underpins Muse’s role as a proactive, background operator, capable of handling communications and tasks independently.
The Commerce Conductor: Muse as Your Shopping & Service Hub
Meta’s ambition for Muse extends deeply into commerce and daily services. Strategic partnerships with payment giants like Stripe and PayPal, alongside e-commerce platforms like Shopify, empower Muse to access entire product catalogs and facilitate purchases across the internet via Lync and Shop Pay. The list of retail partners is impressive, including household names such as Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Walmart, and Wayfair, indicating a clear intent to make Muse a central hub for consumer spending.
Beyond retail, Muse is also integrating with travel (Expedia) and delivery services (Instacart, coming soon), as well as productivity tools like GitHub, Granola, and Notion. This broad spectrum of connectors illustrates Meta’s drive to make Muse an all-encompassing digital assistant for both personal and professional needs.
Fostering Growth: The Developer Ecosystem
Recognizing the power of an open platform, Meta has opened its doors to developers to build their own “connectors” for Muse. The response has been overwhelming, with over 1,500 applications received in less than a week. Wang hailed this as a “generational opportunity” for developers and small businesses to build on a burgeoning platform, highlighting the potential for Muse’s utility to scale exponentially through community innovation.
Bottom Line:Meta’s Connect event firmly established Muse as the linchpin of the company’s future, an ambitious gambit to redefine personal AI. By integrating deeply across devices, humanizing interactions with avatars, and building a vast ecosystem of commerce and productivity partnerships, Meta is not just creating an AI assistant; it’s constructing a foundational layer for how billions will interact with technology, manage their lives, and conduct transactions. This “all-in” strategy marks a pivotal moment for Meta, signaling a future where the line between human and AI interaction blurs, driven by a powerful, pervasive, and potentially profitable personal superintelligence.